Yes, Naruto, Everyone Knew
by Mists
Summary: It's the day after the events of "Naruto:The Last" and Naruto is preparing for his first date with Hinata. But in the process, Sakura leaks that, yeah Naruto, everyone knew she loved you except well... you! So Naruto sets out to prove her wrong and fails miserably! Humor, Romance, Friendship, and goofy goodness abound! Naruto/Hinata and a little Sakura/Sasuke at the end.
1. Damn it, Sakura!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any other ninja. I'm writing this for laughs and to make other people happy. This story takes place immediately after the ending of **"Naruto: the Last" so if you haven't seen the whole movie LEAVE NOW!**

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**~Yes, Naruto, Everyone Knew ~**

**~By: Mists~**

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~Damn it, Sakura!~

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"SAKURA-_CHAN!_" yelled Naruto as he ran up behind the pink-haired kunoichi out for her morning walk. "Wait up! I _REALLY_ need your help!"

"What, Naruto?" she snapped irritatedly. They hadn't gotten back to the village until really late the other night and the near destruction of all shinobi kind hadn't helped her find peace either. "I've got to go grocery shopping right now so this better be important!"

She made her point every clear as she brandished her fist at him. It had been a _very_ rough night.

"It _is!_" Naruto whined as he grabbed desperately at the sleeve of her coat. "I _**can't**_ mess this up Sakura-chan! She'll never forgive me if I mess this _up!_"

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long laboring sigh. "What on earth are talking about, Naruto?"

"MY FIRST DATE _**WITH HINATA!**_" he yelled at the top of his lungs and then clamped his hands over his mouth, looking nervously about.

"Seriously? That's what you're flipping out about?" questioned Sakura with a raised eyebrow of surprise.

Naruto just blushed as he slowly removed his hands from his mouth.

"I... well, yeah," he whispered in a much more subdued voice. "I mean, I almost screwed it all up once already. I _**can't **_do it again! I-"

Naruto then got on his knees and bowed to Sakura begging, "Please, Sakura! I haven't go a clue where to even start! Please tell me what to do!"

Sakura just shook her head sadly and reached down to help Naruto out of the snow.

"Baka," she exclaimed endearingly as she brushed off the snow from his coat. "Get her some flowers, take her out to eat, and give her a good night kiss. Do all that and you'll be _fine_."

"I- really? That's it?" asked Naruto with hope in his voice. "Well, I can get some flowers at Ino's family shop I guess. And _everybody_ likes Ichira-"

Sakura slapped him up the side of the head before he even finished that sentence.

"_Not_, Ichiraku's, **Naruto!**" screamed Sakura clearly at the end of her patience. "We go there as FRIENDS all the time. You need a nice _quiet_ place where you can just talk and be _alone._"

"Ahhh!" exclaimed Naruto as he rubbed his aching head. "See! That was a big help. Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura just shook her head. "You're welcome, Naruto. Just make it a nice night that Hinata will remember, because dear Kami after all these years she deserves it!"

"Yeah, I- hey... Sakura... I was wondering..."

Sakura just looked at him oddly, Naruto wasn't usually so hesitant to speak his mind.

"I- when did you, well you know, _know-_" said Naruto nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Know... what, Naruto?"

"That- that Hinata liked me?" he asked shyly trying not to look Sakura in the eye.

This just caused Sakura to burst out in uproarious laughter, holding her stomach as if it would burst.

"Sakura! Come on that's mean!" whined Naruto a little hurt at her reaction.

"Gomen, gomen," she apologized trying to get her reaction under control. "You asking just took me by surprise is all."

Naruto simply pouted and waited for her to get it all out of her system.

"Anyway, well..." said Sakura with a nostalgic sigh, "I've known for a really long time."

"Really?" asked Naruto in surprise.

"Yeah, it was kind of obvious; even back during our time at the Academy," answered Sakura thinking that there was no harm in telling Naruto this _now._ After all, he and Hinata were together, it couldn't hurt.

"I-" said Naruto in surprise, "Wait, _WHAT?! _You knew she liked me THEN?!"

"_Well..._" she said hesitantly as she began to see that pained look start to appear on his normally smiling face. "I... kinda wasn't the only one..."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto as his skin grew kinda pale.

Sakura immediately backpedaled. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell him now. "I- oh, forget about it Naruto! You know woman's intuition. It's in the past anyway, it doesn't matter now," she said nervously hoping Naruto would stop looking for answers.

Her fleeting hope proved to be futile though, as Naruto's face now became determined.

"No, Sakura! You were going to say something. I'm not as big a baka as you all seem to think I am!"

"Naruto, I _really-_" she stressed, but the blond wouldn't listen.

"_**NO!**_" interrupted Naruto, "I want to know. I'm a grown-assed man! _**Tell me!**_"

"_**Fine!**_" yelled Sakura indignantly. "You want to know so _bad?!_ Everyone! That's right, Naruto! _**EVERYONE KNEW!**_ Except _**you!**_"

"I... if that's true, why didn't any of you tell me..." he asked, clearly hurt.

"It- wasn't our place, Naruto," replied Sakura softly. "We all hoped that one day Hinata-"

"I- no, no," whispered Naruto softly in shock. "That's- _**no!**_ That's not true! That can't be _true!_"

"Naruto-" groaned Sakura as she internally cursed her damn explosive temper.

"No! I don't believe you! And I'll prove it, _**Dattebayo!**_" exclaimed Naruto determinately as he ran off to find his other friends.

He was totally going to prove Sakura wrong!

"Oh, dear, Kami. What the hell did I do?" asked Sakura regretfully as she watched Naruto's quickly fleeting back.

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To Be Continued...

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**Author's Notes**: Promise the next chapter will be funnier! This was just the set up. Next time! Naruto finds Shino and Kiba. And they aren't too happy to hear someone has told Naruto about the their team's biggest S- class Non-secret, secret! All this and more next time! Please remember to read and review!


	2. Team 8's S-ranked Secret!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing! Now, I want you all to know something. For this fic I am considering moments from Rock Lee's spin-off series (except the last episode) to be cannon. Why? Because they are hilarious! Google Crunchyroll and look up Rock Lee on the site, you'll find it in like two minutes. So if you have a chance, watching Episode 9 where most of the moments I will be referencing are from will be helpful. Now, on with the fic!

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~Team 8's S-ranked Secret!~

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A crow flew by going "Caw! Caw!"

"And then I said to her-" said Kiba to Shino as they took a break from training on field three. When their peaceful conversation was rudely interrupted by a fanatic call of _**"Oi!"**_

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru all sighed and sweat-dropped as they turned toward the quickly approaching cloud of dust they knew to be their loud and exuberant friend.

"There you guys are!" exclaimed Naruto as he gasped dramatically trying to catch his breath. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Naruto, it shouldn't have been hard to find us," stated Shino calmly. "Why? Because-"

"Because we always train here you, _**baka!**_" yelled Kiba cutting off Shino's explanation. "Now, what the hell do you want?!"

"Arff!" barked Akamaru in support of his master's question.

"I- need- to ask you guys- a question!" gasped Naruto still trying to catch his breath.

"I... _okay... _what kinda question..." asked Kiba with a raised eyebrow to Shino, which he returned in kind. What on earth had Naruto so frazzled that he had run frantically around the village searching for them?

"Did you, _know?_" Naruto asked with almost a growl as he straightened and looked them in the eyes.

"Uh... know what, man?" questioned Kiba in return as he became even more confused.

Naruto then lunged forward and roughly grabbed him by the shoulders. This made Kiba jump a bit as Akamaru growl threateningly.

"Naruto! What the heck-"

"Did you know, Hinata was in love with me?" asked Naruto, dead serious as he stared Kiba down.

Shocked silence echoed across the open training grounds as only the wind dared make a sound.

The quiet was then shattered, by of all people, _Shino_.

"Who," said the Bug-user in the coldest voice Naruto had ever heard from him.

"What?" he asked, turning his gaze toward his usually quiet friend.

"Who-" said Shino as he grabbed Naruto by the front of his collar, "Told- You!"

"I-" squeaked out the blond, clearly stunned.

"Who, has betrayed us, _**Naruto!**_" demanded Shino as his grip on Naruto's shirt tightened.

Naruto started shaking, and nervously sweating. He had only ONCE heard Shino raise his voice in such a manner. And he was positively terrified to be on the receiving end.

"Erk!" croaked Naruto as Shino simply continued on. "You have been told the most closely guarded secret of the Allied Shinobi Force!"

"Wait, _what_?"

"Team 8's most secure S-rank secret!"

"Uh... Shino..."

"_You _will tell us who told you, Naruto," growled Shino angrily as his normally docile bugs suddenly swarmed about him in a furious storm of vengeance.

"Damn it, Naruto!" exclaimed Kiba as he suddenly snapped out of his shocked stupor. "You just had to poke the bee-hive!"

"But regardless, Shino's right," growled Kiba as he cracked his knuckles threateningly. "Spill it! _**NOW! **_Who the _hell_ told you, and betrayed _**Hinata!**_"

"I- well, _technically_ I figured it out by _**accidentally**_ seeing Hinata's memories," admitted Naruto nervously, secretly hoping they wouldn't find out that Sakura had told him _they_ knew.

Once again Team 8 froze in unified disbelief. Was... Naruto actually serious?! Kiba then violently shook his head as he once again regained consciousness.

"I, wait, _what? _When the hell did that happen?" questioned Kiba, still visibly stunned.

"O-on the Moon Mission, … you know the one we just came back from," answered Naruto with a bit of an embarrassed stutter.

And slowly, _very _slowly Shino released Naruto's collar and took a step back from his friend.

"I... see," whispered Shino as he still stared at Naruto, but thankfully his bugs had calmed down to a dull roar. "We did not get a chance to speak with Hinata last night after your team returned. She has been in the hospital with her father and sister since then..."

"Yeah, I kinda know that," confessed Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hinata said she was going to take Hanabi in to get checked out before we even knew about her father being hurt. I guess I should probably check to make sure we're still on for our date tonight, huh?"

All three members of Team 8 froze dramatically once again.

"Whoa! **Whoa!** Time out! _**Time out!**_" screeched Kiba as Akamaru whined in disbelief. "Let, me get this straight- you _figured out _that Hinata's been in love with you for like FOREVER, and now you're going out on a date?!"

"Hai..." answered Naruto shyly as he looked down at his feet.

"... You finally understand how you feel about her, don't you?" Shino asked insightfully.

"How... he _feels_ about her?" questioned Kiba as he glanced expectantly at Shino. "He forgets she's even there half the damn time!"

"HEY!" growled out Naruto immediately, "Watch it, Kiba! I'm very well aware of what I put Hinata-chan through over the years! I- well... at least I am _now. _But- I well-"

"It has always been there, right below the surface," confirmed Shino softly. Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru whipped around and stared at the Bug-user in surprise. "You just simply didn't know what it was."

"Shino..." whispered Naruto, clearly stunned.

"Every time Hinata has been hurt, or in danger you react with more intensity than with any of your other friends. That is because-"

"-you love her _back,_" finished Kiba in awe as Akamaru howled for joy.

"WOOT!" exclaimed Kiba as he leapt forward and gave Naruto a quick hug. He then moved aside to let Akamaru bowl Naruto over and start enthusiastically licking his face.

"GAHH! Kiba! Get your damn mutt off of me!" exclaimed Naruto as he tried to remove himself from Akamaru's furry clutches.

Kiba then shook his head in disbelief, and said teasingly, "Naruto, dude, forgive me saying this but, I'm totally not buying it..."

"Not buying, what?" asked Naruto with a confused blink as he was finally able to shove the mammoth dog off of his prone body.

"That you figured it out at _all!_" laughed Kiba wildly as Akamaru howled in delight. "I mean_ really, _Naruto! For _**years, **_every time you've been around Hinata, she's turned tomato red and fainted!"

"Kiba," said Shino calmly, trying to interrupt his friend's speech, but Kiba just kept right on going.

"I mean, _**heck**_, we used to train with Neji's team from time to time to help her build up a resistance so she'd stop fainting around you!"

"Kiba..." said Shino warningly as his bugs once again stirred to life around his form.

"Oh, come on, Shino!" exclaimed Kiba indignantly, "Naruto couldn't even figure out that Hinata was freaking girl he saw naked in the waterfall!"

The second the word "waterfall" left Kiba's mouth, his hand clasped over it horrified.

"**KIBA!**" yelled Shino as his bugs instantly attacked, "You have revealed Team 8's **_s_**_**econd **_most secure S-rank secret!"

Kiba and Akamaru screamed bloody murder as the bugs swarmed, biting and stinging them with all their might; while Naruto just stood, as frozen as a statue, staring off into the distance.

"AKAMARU! DYNAMIC MARKING!" yelled Kiba as they ran past Naruto trying to evade the bugs.

The golden shower splashed Naruto in the face and he didn't even flinch.

Then as Shino sent his "CLOUD OF BITING SWARM!" attack at Kiba once again, a few of the bugs divided off and started buzzing around Naruto's head.

Still, he did not move.

And then slowly, _**very**_ slowly the wheels in Naruto's head started to turn.

"_Wait..." _thought Naruto, "_if Hinata was that ultra pretty girl I saw in the waterfall on the bug mission... then __**that **__would mean-"_

Blood then violently shot out of Naruto's nose and he passed out. Because he _finally _figured out that he had seen Hinata water dancing _**naked**_.

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To Be Continued...

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**Author's Notes: **Well? How are you all liking it so far? Yeah the "most closely guarded secret of the Allied Shinobi Force" was from the filler episode where Hinata's team fights the White Zetsu during the war arc, that was one of the few fun ones. Anyway, please read and review! And Next Time! "Springtime of Youth!" Naruto wakes up in the hospital, after making sure with Hinata their date is still on, goes out to see if what Kiba said was true about Neji's Team training with Team 8 to help Hinata over come her fainting spells. All this and more, Next Time!

**Review!**


	3. Springtime of Youth!

**Disclaimer:** I own none of the things! I make none of dah monies! Let's do this! Also watch the second half of Episode 35 of Rock Lee's show if you want some of the references I make during Gai's Team talk. Anyway, on with the show!

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~Springtime of Youth!~

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"What... happened..." grunted Naruto as he slowly regained consciousness. "Where am I...?"

"Naruto-kun?" asked a sweet melodic voice, one that the blond knew quite well.

"Heeee...nata," sighed Naruto contently as he cuddled himself closer to the warm thing next to him.

"_Mmmm... soft and warm, nice pillow,"_ he thought and began to fall back asleep.

"Oh!" squeaked the cute voice nervously, "Oh, dear..."

"_Wait a minute... pillows don't squeak..."_ thought Naruto groggily as he opened his eyes to behold a lavender eyed goddess.

"Heeeee...nata," sighed the blond again as he reached out and began lovingly stroking Hinata's long hair. This made her let out a breathless laugh. And in turn, made Naruto finally come to the realization that this was not a dream.

And all at once, reality came slamming down again: Shino, Kiba, SEEING HINATA NAKED!

Naruto's eyes went wide as he watched Hinata's gradually reddening face. He then became suddenly aware of the position his head was laying, in relation to the _rest _of Hinata's body.

And oh yeah, Naruto was totally resting his head on Hinata's amazing tits.

"SHIT!" exclaimed Naruto as the entire upper half of his body bolted upright. "Hinata-chan! Gomen'nasai! I-I didn't realize-"

This just made Hinata sweetly giggle again as she replied, "It's alright, Naruto-kun. I had just sat down in the chair, when I leaned over to check if you had a fever. And you kinda of..."

"-reached out and cuddled you like a plush toy," finished Naruto embarrassingly, already knowing where she was going.

"Yeah..." whispered Hinata with gentle smile, "I thought it was kinda sweet."

This caused the blond to start blushing as well.

"Hehehe..." laughed Naruto awkwardly as he tried to regain his composer, "I- so... I'm guessing Kiba and Shino brought me in?"

"Hai," confirmed Hinata, "They said something about sparring, a bad nosebleed, and having to hose you down." She then reached over to the nightstand and picked up a folded piece of paper; there by missing the look of pure relief that flitted across Naruto's face.

Hinata then handed Naruto the paper and moved to stand.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Naruto," she whispered softly as her hand gently glided across his face.

"Yeah..." replied Naruto dazedly as he stared at Hinata's beautiful form, then he remembered. "Oh! Hinata, how's your father doing?"

"He's doing better, though he's unfortunately still unconscious. But Tsunade-sama said it's just chakra exhaustion and he should awaken very soon," answered Hinata sadly.

Naruto simply gulped and thanked his lucky freaking stars. Because if the elder Hyuga had seen where Naruto had placed his head, he had a feeling he'd be in 64 ways o'pain right now.

"Hai..." agreed Naruto nervously as Hinata got up to leave.

"I really should go check on him, Naruto-kun. But I'm very glad that you're okay," said Hinata as she turned to exit the room. Naruto's hand then suddenly shot out and grabbed her's before she could leave.

"Hinata, wait. I... um, a-are we still on for tonight?" asked Naruto, hoarsely.

This question made Hinata smile as Naruto nervously continued, "B-because I'd understand, if you know, you wanted to stay in and watch your fath-"

Hinata just leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the forehead, while unintentionally giving Naruto another full on view of her _most _ample bosom.

A brief flash of Ero-sennin shot through Naruto's mind as he _ecstatically_ gave Naruto two BIG thumbs-up of approval!

"_I'm not turning into Ero-sennin! I'm not turning into Ero-sennin!" _chanted Naruto mentally as he vaguely heard Hinata say, that he was being very thoughtful, and she would still see him at the Hyuga compound at 6:30 tonight. She then turned and he watched as her gorgeous curves exited the room.

Naruto felt a bit of blood start to trickle down his nose again. He quickly grabbed a bunch of tissues off of the nightstand and violently shoved them up his nose.

He was not turning into a pervert _**damn it!**_ He was _not! _Hinata was a very strong and able kunoichi, as well as an amazing person. She was not a piece of meat! And he would treat her as such! Even though she was still very, _very hot..._

"Stop it!" Naruto exclaimed as he gave himself a sharp slap to get his perverted mind back on freaking track.

It was then that he remembered the note Hinata had left. Naruto quickly opened it and sweat-dropped.

"Naruto," the blond read aloud, "If you hurt her, you _die._ Remember that. Signed Kiba, Shino, and I'm guessing the paw print is Akamaru."

Naruto just snorted, balled up the note, and chucked it in the trash. He was already quite determined to _never_ hurt Hinata again, thank you very much!

"Right! I'm on a mission!" exclaimed Naruto as he threw back the sheets. "Plan a perfect date for Hinata, and prove Sakura _wrong!"_

"_**Hate to tell you this, Kit, but she's right, even I knew," **_laughed Kurama wickedly in Naruto's head. _**"That girl pretty much sacrificed her life for you during the Pain attack. You don't do that for just anybody."**_

"_Oi! I didn't ask for your opinion baka fox!" _growled Naurto in his mind. _"Besides I thought you said after the moon thing you were going on vacation."_

"_**Oh, I am," **_laughed the fox demon evilly. _**"Just wanted to add in my two cents. Good luck, Brat. You're sure going to need it!"**_

And with that, the ninetails' presence left his mind.

"Stupid fox, I'll show him, too!" declared Naruto loudly. "Let's do this, _**Dattebayo!**_"

As Naruto dramatically punched his fist against the flat of his other hand, he suddenly caught a whiff of some _questionable_ kind of scent. The man then sniffed the air curiously, along with his orange sweatshirt.

"Eww!" he exclaimed with an upturned nose.

"I smell pretty rank, I wonder why. Okay shower first, _then_ mission!" he said to himself, leaping out of bed ready to find his next target: The Team of Maito Gai.

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Naruto, of course, found Gai's team doing what they always did, _**training**_. And even though Gai was now wheelchair bound, it did nothing to diminish his youthful spirit. He was lifting weights as Lee did push-ups, and Tenten was close by practicing her aim with her Ninja scrolls.

"Oi! GUYS!" yelled Naruto as he raced up to the hard working group. "I need to ask you something!"

"Ah! Naruto! My eternal rival!" exclaimed Lee excitedly, "Have you come to have a youthful spar?!"

"No, sorry, Lee. I can't today. I... well I kind of wanted to asked all of you something..." said Naruto nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

This caused the rest of Team Gai's group to look at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Well," said Gai encouragingly, "Go ahead, Naruto. We are listening."

"I-" started Naruto as he then looked down at the dirt with bit of a blush, "I was kinda talking with Kiba and Shino and well, Kiba mentioned that you may have... helped train with Hinata's team from time to time."

"Well... yeah, Naruto. All of our teams have over the years..." answered Tenten in a confused tone.

"Oh, I know _that_. But, well see," said Naruto as he began to turn redder, "This was a special _kind _of training though... for just Hinata-chan against... well _me_."

This caused a gentle smile to form on Gai's face. It would seem that the boy had _finally_ figured it out.

"Naruto..." said Lee as he looked at his blond friend oddly, "What exactly are you asking us?"

"Did you guys know," Naruto asked seriously, "that Hinata was in love with me?"

"You- OMG! Naruto, did Hinata finally tell you?!" exclaimed Tenten excitedly. Lee took a fighting stance as he tried to contain his tears of joy!

"**FINALLY!" **yelled Lee positively _bursting_ with happiness. "Hinata's Springtime of Youth has come into full _BLOOM!_ Neji would be so proud! Hinata-chan has truly overcome her greatest weakness!".

"Greatest... _weakness?_" said Naruto sadly as his shoulders began to droop. "So... you guys _did _know?!"

"Oh! Of course we did, Naruto!" replied Tenten as she and Lee started jumping and hugging each other out of sheer joy. "Heck, even Neji knew! Why do you think he always sent you flying every time you interrupted his and Hinata's training."

"Wait, _what?!_" yelled Naruto snapping immediately out of his depressed little stupor. "_**Neji,**_ knew! I thought he was just being a dick!"

"_And how the hell am I not DEAD if he freaking knew?"_ thought Naruto wonderingly.

This made Tenten laugh as she reached out to grab Lee's shoulder, "Remember that one time, we thought we had made some progress with her fainting, and Naruto appeared out of nowhere!"

"Yeah, and POP! Down she went, oh poor Hinata-chan," lamented Lee. "She's tried SO hard to overcome her shyness."

Naruto just watched the back and forth as his eye nervously began twitching.

"Oh! Oh! And then there was **'Operation Howl at Sunset'** when we tried to get Hinata and Naruto together," added Tenten enthusiastically, "And we-"

"-convinced Neji to cross-dress as Sakura!" finished the two friends together, setting them off in another gale of laughter.

"Wait! Hold on, _that's_ what that was about?!" exclaimed Naruto in surprise, remembering that day, "I just thought Neji was being perverted!"

But both Lee and Tenten continued on as if they hadn't heard him.

"Yeah, I remember that! It was not my greatest plan," admitted Lee with a giggle and a thumbs-up, "But it did get results!"

"_**OI!**_ Dude that was the day you wackos were all chasing me around Konoha and I slammed into Hinata so hard that-"

"-you had to carry her to the hospital, yup!" answered Tenten with an evil grin, index finger waging at Naruto as she finished with a wink.

"The_** HELL**_ guys! Hinata was stuck in the hospital for a month!" yelled Naruto angrily as he still felt absolutely terrible about that!

"And..." added Lee teasingly as he put an arm around Naruto's shoulders, "You came and _**visited **_her, everyday _**for **_that whole month, didn't you?"

"I- well... I" stuttered Naruto as he suddenly realized that had actually been one of the first times he spent long periods of time alone with Hinata.

"Well, at least it had worked better than my plan to get Hinata to change her personality," sighed Tenten as she shook her head remorsefully.

"Wait, what?" asked Naruto coldly as he shoved Lee off his shoulders. "Explain that, Tenten."

Tenten just looked up and blinked at him, clearly surprised by his shift in tone.

"Why, did you try to do that?" demanded Naruto as he stared the Weapons-master down.

"I- well, I mean you were always chasing after _Sakura _so I kinda thought-" answered Tenten nervously, but he cut her off before she could even finish.

"NEVER do that again," growled Naruto in the most threatening manner Tenten had ever heard from him. "Never even, _**dare**_ mention that to her again! To even imply that Hinata, the most amazing person I have _**EVER **_known would have to change ANY PART OF HERSELF FOR SOMEONE ELSE IS-"

Tenten's and Lee's eyes went wide in absolute shock, they had never seen Naruto react like this. So...

Did he _really? _Had he finally? Both their jaws dropped open as they could just barely make out the gleeful laughter of Gai-sensei over Naruto's yelling.

Tenten cut-off Naruto's emotion filled speech by loudly declaring, "YOU LOVE HER BACK!"

"I- wait, what?" asked Naruto as all his anger deflated once Tenten interrupted him. "Yes, I do. What does that have to do with anything?"

Lee gasped dramatically. He then ran up and enthusiastically hugged Naruto as waterfalls of joyful tears ran down his face. "Naruto-kun! My friend, I am so _very_ happy for you! Your 'Springtime of Youth' has finally come into full bloom as _well_!"

"GAHH! Lee!" exclaimed Naruto as he ran away from the Green-beast. "What the hell's wrong with you?! Get the hell off of me!"

Lee just continued chasing him, gushing about "Youth" and "Youthful Love."

This caused Gai to start banging his hand on the armrest of his wheelchair and laugh all the harder.

"Isn't this amazing Gai-sensei! I mean, who would have ever thought that Naruto would actually return it!" gushed Tenten so immensely happy for her normally star-crossed friends.

"Oh, there were a few people who knew," sagely commented Gai as he thought of the rather large amount of money he and a few others were going to be receiving from two VERY disgruntled Kage soon. Or at least _Naruto_ would be receiving. They all had agreed that if they won, the poor boy would get the spoils.

"Naruto never had a normal life, Tenten," explained Gai to his pupil. "His parents died on the day of his birth, and he grew up ostracized by most of the village. For most of his life, he has been alone. So romantic love would be very hard for him to understand."

With a nostalgic sigh of youth, Gai paused for a moment as he watched his young protege wildly chase Naruto around the field.

"But it was there, and it would show up in small unexpected flashes. I am simply overjoyed that it had not come to the rather _**drastic **_measures some of us were plotting for it to come to the surface..." finished Gai cryptically with an evil smile.

"Neji," said Tenten sadly, "He would have been so happy to see this..."

"Hai," agreed Gai as he reached out and held Tenten's hand. "That he would my dear. That he would."

And with that, Tenten and Gai laughed joyfully knowing that somewhere, Neji was smiling down on all of them.

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To Be Continued...

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**Author's Notes: **Yay! Another chapter down! Don't worry, you'll find more about that bet Gai was talking about later! LOL Next Time: "Flower Power!" Naruto heads to Ino's parents' shop for flowers. How will Ino and Sai react? And I know some people have done similar scenes like this before in their fics. But trust me, this is going to be quite original I think. I'm putting a lot of my Sai and Ino head cannon in this so it's going to be really fun. All this and more, next time!

Oh and remember you can find more of my Naruto fics and other Fan Fics from me on my Author's Page.

Please read and review!


	4. Flower Power!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Naruto things or the stuff in the place that makes the money. So there! Anyway, hope everyone is enjoying this! This chapter is a LOT of head cannon on my part about Ino and Sai's relationship. So just bear with it and have fun! Okay, on with the fic!

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~Flower Power!~

* * *

Naruto sulkingly left Team Gai with a sad sigh.

"_Man, I can't believe even Neji knew! There has to be SOMEONE out there that also didn't freaking know,"_ thought Naruto as he started to feel a tad discouraged.

He then roughly shook his head to knock that stupid feeling right out of his system. He was Uzumaki Naruto, damn it! Defeat was NOT in his vocabulary! … Along with several other words, but that was _not_ the point! There had to be _someone_! He-

Then Naruto got a blast of inspiration, "Of course!" he exclaimed aloud as he smacked his fist against his hand.

"The one person who couldn't have known!" said Naruto happily to himself. "Ino! If she had known, there's no way she would have resisted spreading around _that _juicy piece of gossip!"

Naruto excitedly glanced at his watch adding, "It's nearly lunch time, and I need to swing by her family's flower shop anyway, so this is perfect! Oh, boy! Is she ever going to be surprised!"

And with that, Naruto practically skipped off to the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

* * *

The second Naruto entered the shop he was met with an excited squeal and an enthusiastic hug.

"Oh my GOSH! Oh my GOSH!" chanted Ino happily nearly bursting with joy, "I'm SO happy for you and Hinata, Naruto! Sai told me _everything!_"

"I- wait, _everything?_" asked Naruto nervously as he saw Sai sitting behind the counter slyly smiling as he read a copy of '_Icha Icha Paradise._' You see, after the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi-sensei had introduced Sai to the "wonders" of Ero-sennin's perverted novel series. And Sai was pretty much immediately hooked. It was a PERFECT match for Sai's underlying perverted nature. This led to Sai conducting "research" and soon had pretty much created a fully illustrated manga version which he happily shared with Kakashi-sensei.

To say, Kakashi was "impressed" with the results was an understatement. The man nearly died of blood loss from the extensive nosebleed that had occurred. Tsunade-sama pretty much had to surgically remove the damn thing from his hands. "No! NO! This is the way I chose to go! Let me die in blissful _**e**__**cstasy**_!" he kept screaming trying to get it back. Anyway, Kakashi-sensei was so impressed that he got Sai in contact with the 'Icha Icha' series publishers, and low and behold Sai's graphic novels (and dear kami do I mean __graphic__) were published.

They were an immense hit. So much of a hit in fact, Sai had been given the rights to continue the book series in Jiraiya's name. Needless to say, Naruto was pretty sure wherever Ero-sennin had ended up after death, he was perversely happy to see his um... _legacy_ carried on.

Writing the book series also helped Sai start to understand people and their emotions better, the 'research' he had been conducting over the years had been a great foundation for his work. Which made Naruto even _more _antsy about just what he had said about Hinata when he had been unconscious back on the moon. He _**REALLY**_ didn't want his Hinata fantasies popping up in the next issue of 'Icha Icha!'

"I always hoped that you and Hinata would eventually get together!" continued on Ino, not noticing Naruto glaring at Sai. "Sakura and I were getting worried when all those young ditz-brained girls started clamoring after you."

"Yeah... I really don't know why they were acting like that..." replied Naruto as he let Ino drag him to the flower counter. It was really _weird _the way most of the village girls had been acting around him lately. I mean... it was almost like how they used to act around Sasuke! And he had to admit, when he was younger, he would have eaten up all that attention. But now... Naruto was starting to see why exactly it had ticked Sasuke off so much. All those girls just wanted the 'image' of who he was, not the actual person.

Naruto then shook his head as he caught back onto what Ino had actually said, "I- wait, hold on just a minute! Ino, does that mean you knew, too?!"

Ino just looked at him exasperatedly and replied, "Honestly, Naruto... Of course, I knew! Hinata was the only girl in our whole freaking Academy class that didn't want to jump Sasuke's bones. She'd always turn beet red and pass out around you, girls _**know**_ what those signs _mean._"

"I- but Ino, you're like the Queen of Gossip! Why didn't you-"

Ino slammed her hand on the counter and looked at Naruto grimly.

"Hinata is my _friend,_ Naruto," answered Ino, coldly. "Sakura and I have teased her a bit about it in the past, but here are somethings you don't gossip about. And this was one. If I had, and you would have found out, it would have _**destroyed **_her. Do you understand?"

Naruto stared at Ino sadly, he knew she took her friendships very seriously. Even though she and Sakura had fought fiercely over Sasuke's affection, at the core, she had still been Sakura's friend.

"Gomen'nasai, Ino. I... didn't mean it that way," Naruto remorsefully apologized.

Ino just sighed and gave him a nod of her head, showing that she accepted.

"Ino... is that why Hinata was so nervous about giving me the scarf?" asked Naurto hesitantly. "Because she felt intimated by those girls?"

Ino just looked at him with wide-eyes, shocked that he had actually put that together all by himself.

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Naruto as he read her expression, "As if I care even a fraction for them as much as I do Hinata."

Naruto then quickly clamped a hand over his mouth knowing what he had just admitted to Ino.

"Hehehe!" laughed Sai as he started writing down something in his notebook.

"OI!" roared Naruto as he reached out, grabbed a random flower, and chucked it at Sai's stupid head. "Quiet in the perverted peanut gallery!"

This caused Ino to giggle, knowing full well the naughtiness her boyfriend was jotting down.

On a list of all the friends he'd ever expected to get together, Ino and Sai were like right at the bottom. But apparently, Ino and Sai had developed quite the friendship over the years without his knowledge. Bit by bit, Sai began to come out of his shell, and Ino... well let's just say her perverted side started to show through more and more. And once Sai had been handed over the 'Icha Icha' reins, he immediately went to Ino for some advice and 'inspiration.' From there, their friendship had slowly, but surely turned into love. They were _quite_ the couple alright.

"Anyway!" declared Ino getting them back on track, "Let's get down to business! You came in to get a bouquet of flowers for your date with Hinata tonight, right?"

Naruto gulped as he could hear the underlying threat that the man had _**better**_ have come into the store to get Hinata flowers.

"H-Hai," confirmed Naruto, nervously watching Ino.

"Yoshi! I will give Hinata-chan by best," answered Ino with determination. "So what kind of flowers would you like in the bouquet, Naruto?"

"I- well, I was kinda hoping you would have some ideas about that," confessed Naruto with a bit of a blush.

Ino just clicked her tongue disapprovingly at him. She then turned to a big container that held a bunch of yellow flowers.

"Well, you're in luck, Naruto-kun," said Ino as she looked through the bunch. "Even though sunflowers aren't in season, I just so happen to have some in stock."

"Sunflowers?" asked Naruto as Ino pulled one out to show him. It was kind of a plain looking as far as flowers go. "Why, sunflowers?"

Ino let out an exaggerated sigh and replied, "Honestly, Naruto, they're Hinata's favorite flower! Don't you even know that?!"

Naruto gave her his goofy smile and looked down at the happy little flower.

"Really?" asked the blond curiously. "Huh, I wonder why she likes it so much."

"Yeee...sss," hissed out Ino as she started tapping the sunny yellow points of the individual pedals.

She then reached out her hand and tapped the points of Naruto's spiky blond hair while saying, "I wonder..." and then smacked him on the head with the flower as she finished, "-why?"

Naruto just blinked back at her confused.

"Uh, Ino, what the heck was _that _for?"

"UGH!" yelled Ino in disgust as she started repeatedly hitting Naruto with the flower. "You are ***smack!* **the most thick-headed man ***smack!* **in existence, I swear! Your _hair, _Naruto! ***smack!*** Hinata likes it ***smack!* **because it reminds her of your spiky blond _hair._** *smack!*** Nimrod!"

"Ow!" exclaimed Naruto as he finally snatched the flower from Ino's hand and stared at it. "I... huh."

Naruto then tapped the pedal points and started blushing.

"_She... really likes my hair that much?" _thought Naruto shyly.

"Oh," was his embarrassed response.

"Yes, _oh,_" teased Ino as she rolled her eyes and shot Sai a look. Sai just shook his head and continued jotting down stuff into his notebook.

"So, since we have a flower to represent _you_, Naruto. Why don't you pick one out that reminds you of Hinata-chan?" suggested Ino as she started to cut and arrange the sunflowers.

"Oh!" exclaimed Naruto as he came out of his thoughts, "Okay."

Naruto then proceeded to glance around the store. There were lots of flowers there, but none of them seemed to really capture "Hinata" for him. After a little while, a dark violet flower caught his eye. The cheerful blond walked up to it with a smile. Naruto knew these flowers. They were the first ones to burst into bloom when spring arrived. They always were a sign to him that the cold, dark days of winter had come to an end, and life had returned to the world.

Naruto reached out and took the flower from the vase. It was then, when he looked closer at it, that he realized it was also the same color as Hinata's hair.

"_Weird, I never noticed that before," _thought Naruto, making him smile.

"Oi, Ino!" called Naruto as he made his way back to the counter. "Can we add some of these to it?"

He then walked up and handed Ino the flower. The girl's blond eyebrows went up in surprise.

"An iris, huh?" she asked with a smile.

Naruto simply blushed and looked quickly away.

"Irises are said to represent compassion and hope," replied Ino as she went to pick out more of them for the bouquet. "But they also can mean _friendship_, so I think I will add a few red roses in to make sure Hinata doesn't confuse the meaning."

Ino gave Naruto a sly wink as she moved back to the table, making the poor boy blush just as red as the roses.

The blond woman quickly went back and started trimming the flowers.

"Uh, Ino?" asked Naruto and she looked up at him questioningly. "What do sunflowers mean?"

This question made Ino smile as she continued working. "They represent loyalty, energy, and life... I think they fit the two of you very well."

"H-Hai," answered Naruto as he had suddenly took a very intense interest in his shoes. Sai smiled behind his notebook and kept writing down Naruto's unintentional wealth of golden material.

* * *

"And a few sprigs of baby's breath and we are done!" exclaimed Ino as she held out the arrangement for Naruto inspect.

"Wow, Ino! It's perfect! Thank you so much! How much do I owe you?" asked Naruto as he went to dig out Gama-chan.

Ino simply waved him off. "It's on the house this time, Naruto. You did just save the whole ninja world yesterday. Consider it a thank you present."

"Arigato," thanked Naruto wholeheartedly. Ino then held out her hands saying, "Here, I'll take the bouquet in the back and place it inside a sealing scroll so it'll be fresh when you give it to Hinata tonight."

"Yoshi! That's a great idea," agreed Naruto as he handed the flowers back to Ino. As she made her way into the back of the shop, Naruto called out, "Oh and Ino, could you... maybe give me some sunflower seeds and iris bulbs if, you know, you have any around?"

Ino just raised an eyebrow at him in question. His only reply was a shy shrug. No way was he going to tell Gossip Queen Ino about his gardening hobby. He wanted to plant them in a special spot he was making on the outskirts of the village. The girls of the Konoha Twelve would tease him to know end if they knew.

"_Well... except for Hinata-chan, of course,"_ thought Naruto with a blush. Ino simply shrugged and said, "Sure, Naruto-kun. I'll see what I can do..." and went back to finish her work.

"So," said Sai as he closed his notebook, "where are you taking Hinata-san on your date tonight, Naruto?"

"Well, Sakura-chan said I shouldn't take her to Ichiraku's because it should be special," replied Naruto as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"That sounds rather wise," answered Sai with a light, unforced smile. He had been seeing more of those lately, and it made Naruto quite happy.

"So, I was thinking about taking her to that barbecue joint that Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru always go to. I... also kinda wanted to ask the rest of Team 10 something, do you happen to know where the guys are?" asked Naruto. He had one last chance to prove Sakura wrong. But... Naruto had the feeling that his quest was doomed to fail.

"Shikamaru and Choji got called to the Hokage's office just a few hours ago. I think they wanted to discuss plans for the spring Chunin exams again," replied Ino as she came back into the room.

"Really? Sweet! I'll stop by Kakashi's office quick before I head to the barbecue place to make a reservation_,_" said the blond as he held out his hand for the scrolls Ino was carrying.

"Okay, now Naruto, this is important! The red scroll has the bouquet in it and the blue one has the bulbs and seeds. _**Don't**_ mix them up!" she explained with a threatening edge to her voice.

"Right! Red good, blue bad, got it!" exclaimed Naruto as he put the scrolls away and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Naruto?" asked Ino as she walked up and roughly grabbed him by the collar.

"Erk!" Naruto grunted as he watched Ino with wide-eyes.

She then stared him down and said, "You better give Hinata-chan _**all **_the love she deserves."

Ino then tightened her grip, and Naruto audibly gulped.

"And by that, I mean I want to hear her orgasmic _**screams**_ of ecstasy, echo across_ Hokage Mountain! ACROSS THE FREAKING MOUNTAIN, NARUTO. **YOU HEAR ME?!**_" she growled giving him a shake.

"Eek!" squeaked Naruto as his nosebleed started again when he thought about doing such a thing.

"Oh! Nice one, Beautiful," commented Sai as he slid up behind Ino and gave her a kiss on the neck.

Ino let out sensual gasp of delight as she then turned her laser focus back onto Naruto.

"And if I don't," added Ino in a threateningly sweet voice, "I'll turn Sai's nickname for you into __**reality.**__"

Sai laughed merrily at this as Naruto went completely pale. The blond ninja then croaked out, "Y-Yes, yes, ma'am!" and hightailed it out of flower shop with both his hands place protectively over his crotch.

"FROM THE MOUNTAIN, NARUTO!" yelled Ino and Sai at his quickly retreating back as they both struck dynamic poses. A Japanese wood print wave appeared in the background as they freeze framed. The lighting makes them look like heroes sent from the heavens.

The scene then ends with a black crow flying behind them going "Caw! Caw!"

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To Be Continued...

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**Author's Notes:** Yes, Naruto still has Gama-chan because I say so. LOL So next time, is actually NOT Choji and Shikamaru, but instead we get "Old People Have No Lives!" Hehehe! Chew on that guys! Oh! That's going to be SO much fun.

If you have time, remember to check out my Author's Page for more of my fics. And as always, please read and review!


	5. Old People Have No Lives!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. He's all Hinata's people! Hehehe! Alright guys and girls, my husband and I are moving across country. So internet will be spotty for at least two weeks and i doubt I'll have time to write much. As of now, this story has 8 chapters planned so there's not that much more to go. So hopefully this chapter will tide you over until then. Anyway, enjoy this crazy chapter with lots of sweet emotional moments peppered in as well. Enjoy!

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~Old People Have No Lives!~

* * *

Naruto gasped desperately for air as he came to a rest atop the Hokage monument.

"Well _that _was emotionally scarring!" exclaimed Naruto to himself as he tried to catch his breath. "Sai's been *gasp* a freaking a _horrible_ influence on Ino!"

The poor blond rested there for a few minutes watching the clouds. Once he could actually breath properly again, Naruto leapt to his feet.

"Alright, whatever. I've got one last chance!" yelled Naruto as his determined spirit sprung to life again. "Shikamaru and Choji _can't_ have known!"

And so off Naruto sped to the Hokage's office.

* * *

"-and I think we should start using Training Field 5 instead of the Forest of Death because-" said Kakashi as he conducted the Chunin Exams meeting in his office when-

***BAM!***

"Naruto! What are-"

"SHIKAMARU! CHOJI!" yelled Naruto at the top of his lungs as he slammed open the door to Kakashi's office. "YES OR NO! DID YOU LOSERS KNOW HINATA WAS IN LOVE WITH ME? AND IF SO, _SHIKAMARU_, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME AFTER I CONFESSED THAT I LOVED HER!"

Iruka, Kakashi, and Tsunade just stared at the wild-eyed blond in shock as a crow flew outside the office window going "Caw! Caw!"

Naruto then blinked and finally took in the people who were actually standing in the room.

Unfortunately, neither Shikamaru or Choji were even there.

"Oh, _shit,_" sighed Naruto as he face-palmed.

This snapped the three out of their frozen states.

"YES!" "HELLS YES!" exclaimed both Iruka and Tsunade as they high-fived over Kakashi's desk.

"Why the hell, are you so happy, Tsunade?" asked Kakashi as he dug around for his wallet. "You lost the bet, too!"

"Ahh... but see that's _why_ I bet against it!" replied Tsunade happily as she paid Iruka. "I always lose. So I wanted to make absolutely sure this would happen!"

Kakashi just sighed, counted out his money and handed it to Iruka. "I'm never going to hear the end of this from either you or Gai, am I?" sulkingly asked Kakashi.

"Nope!" replied Iruka cheerfully as he pocketed the cash. "I'm also going to need Gai and Kurenai's winnings, too. We promised to give them to Naruto if we won, Hokage-sama."

"Fine!" sighed Kakashi pulling out more cash, "But remind Gai this loss doesn't count towards our Rivalry Battle!"

"You're just mad we didn't have resort to 'Plan B' in order to get them together," teased Iruka as he grabbed the rest of the money.

"Wait..." whined Naruto, defeatedly, "You guys knew, too?"

"Hai," confirmed Kakashi. "What can I say, we're old. Your life is like our soap opera."

Naruto's right eye started to twitch.

"Iruka, Gai, and Kurenai bet that you two would get together _naturally_," explained the Sixth Hokage calmly, "where as Tsunade, Shizune, and I thought it would take... more _drastic_ measures..."

"What kind of measures?" grunted out Naruto between clenched teeth.

"Well... Part 1: of Plan B consisted of locking you two in a room with a copy of 'Icha Icha Paradise' with the words '_Here's how to do it'_ written on the cover," admitted Kakashi with a shrug.

"OI! Watch it Ero-kage!" yelled Naruto as he chucked a kunai at Kakashi's head.

Which of course, he easily caught and stuck into his desk. "Now, now, Naruto" scolded Kakashi with a sweat-drop, "What did I say about calling me that?"

This just made Iruka snort into his hand and Tsunade burst out in her boisterous laughter.

"You forgot about, Part 2," added the blond-haired woman, "Where you send in Pakkun and the rest of your ninja dogs to teach him the ways of _love_."

"Oi! Pakkun _is_ the Guru of Love!" protested the silver-haired man. "Do you know how many puppies he-"

"ERO-KAGE!" roared Naruto as he went to chase Kakashi around the office. There was some back and forth sparring until Kakashi decided he had enough and left a log in his place with a note tacked to it saying he was taking a break.

"Oh that lazy, never mind," said Iruka as he read the letter and the shred it to pieces. "Sometimes, I think he's better at getting out of work than you, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade just laughed and joked, "Oh, no. I still hold the title on that one!"

It was then that both Iruka and Tsunade noticed Naruto sitting cross-legged with his slumped over back facing them.

"Hey... Naruto..." said Iruka as he approached the man he considered a little brother.

"Are you okay?" the brunette asked as he gently placed a supportive hand on Naruto's shoulder.

It was then that the blond's stomach gave off a mighty **"**_**GROWL!"**_

He turned to Iruka with tears in his eyes as he said with a sad sniff, "I was so upset, I forgot to eat LUNCH!"

Iruka sweat-dropped and comforted Naruto saying, "There, there, it's not too late. Let's go get some food in you and we can talk about everything with Hinata, son."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," replied Naruto sincerely as he gave his old teacher a hug.

A quick cough behind them, then broke them apart.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment boys," said Tsunade with a grin. "But I would like to speak with Naruto alone for a little bit if I could."

The guys just gave each other a quick glance and Iruka replied, "Of course, Tsunade-sama."

Iruka then gave Naruto's arm one last reassuring squeeze, saying, "I'll meet you at Ichiraku's when you're done, okay?"

Naruto simply nodded as he stood up and turned toward Tsunade.

"Oi, Oba-chan what's this about?" asked Naruto as Tsunade gave the obstinate brat a good knock on the head.

"Ow!"

"What did I tell you about calling me that?!" growled Tsunade brandishing her fist. "Now come with me up to the roof. There's something I want to talk to you about..."

And so, the two made their way to the roof of the Hokage's office.

* * *

Tsunade walked slowly toward the railing as Naruto followed a few paces behind.

"So... what's this about, Oba-chan?" asked Naruto as he leaned up against the railing next to Tsunade.

The Fifth Hokage simply stared out over the village for a few moments before she took a deep breath and answered him,"I wanted to talk a little bit about you and Hinata."

This made Naruto blush and nervously start itching at the back of his head.

"Oh... okay then..."

"Naruto... you know about how I lost my little brother, correct?" questioned Tsunade solemnly.

"I... Hai," confirmed Naruto sadly.

"...Did anyone ever tell you... about Dan?"

"...Well I know that you loved him... and that you weren't able to save him... That was why you were afraid of blood for all those years, right?"

"Correct," confirmed Tsunade with a sigh, "Dan... he was the love of my life, Naruto..."

The blond just stared at Tsunade's far away look.

"You have been given a very valuable gift, kiddo," she said turning towards Naruto. "So don't you dare squander it."

Naruto's face became serious and he nodded. He had no intention of ever doing such a thing.

"Treasure every moment you have with her, son," Tsunade said seriously as she reached out and grasped Naruto's arm. "And if anything, or anyone threatens to take away what you have, you fight them Naruto, you fight with all that you are."

"Hai," agreed Naruto softly.

"When Dan... died. It broke me. It destroyed me so completely that I thought I could never be whole again," she confessed in a strained tone.

Naruto simply stared at her, unsure of what to say.

"But then this little blond ball of energy came along, and saved me from myself," Tsunade whispered hoarsely as she stared back at her little brother.

Naruto simply smiled in return.

"I never want to see that happen to _you, _Naruto. And... I think you agree, that someone like Hinata is worth the risk," she said with a gentle laugh.

It made Naruto snort in reply.

Tsunade then continued, "I respect that girl _immensely, _Naruto. Almost as much as I do Sakura."

This made Naruto look up in shock. He had never heard Tsunade talk about Hinata.

"Really, Oba-chan?" asked Naruto surprised.

"Hai... she actually reminds me a little of myself back in my youth," replied Tsunade nostalgically.

Naruto just froze and looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"H-Hinata... reminds you of _yourself_?" asked Naruto incredulously, once he regained the ability to speak.

"Oh, hush up you and let me explain!" Tsunade exclaimed as she elbowed him sharply in the gut.

Naruto gasped in pain and promptly shut up.

"Anyway, when I was younger from the second I was born, I was expected to surpass my grandfather. But I was only born with Earth affinity, not Wood, and my chakra reserves weren't even close to Hashirama's capacity."

Tsunade stared at Naruto as she continued on, tightening her iron grip on the railing, "I had my strength, but most people in my family had that. So I was pretty much labeled a failure before I even had a chance to try."

This comment made Naruto look at the ground sadly as he remembered how the Hyuga had treated Hinata.

"The villagers and the other ninjas would always call me 'hime' and I could always hear their sneer of insincerity every time they said it. I hadn't earned that title, it was only because my grandfather spoiled me rotten. They called me that because they thought HE was great, not me."

Naruto glanced away, remembering how Neji used to spit out the term "-sama" whenever it came to Hinata.

"And honestly, I don't really blame them," admitted Tsunade. "Because I hadn't earned it, _yet._ But I couldn't be the second coming of Hashirama. I learned that fairly early on, so I blazed my own path... It wasn't until after my brother's death and I had petitioned the council to make medical ninjas mandatory on every team that people began to see me in a different light... you see what I'm getting at Naruto?"

"Hai," answered the blond sincerely, "Hinata had to work very hard to be acknowledged by people, just like you and I did."

"Correct, she is a very impressive kunoichi," Tsunade said seriously. "And of all the women in this village, ninja and civilian alike, I truly believe she is the only one worthy of you, son."

Naruto looked up just as Tsunade placed a chased kiss upon his forehead, just as she had done once all those years ago.

"Love her, Naruto," said Tsunade sincerely as she wrapped him in a bear hug. "And allow her to love you, because you both deserve to experience life's greatest source of happiness. Let it fuel and drive you both... and _**never **_let it go... "

Tears filled Naruto's eyes as he croaked out "Hai," into his second mother's shoulder.

* * *

After a few more words, and the drying of eyes, Naruto then made his way to the ramen stand to met with the rest of his surrogate family.

"Naruto!" called out Iruka waving as he approached. "I saved you a seat!"

Naruto rushed over and sat next to Iruka.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," stated the brown-haired man as he pulled a big wad of cash out of his wallet. "Here's all of our winnings from the bet. You treat Hinata really well tonight, okay? You both deserve it."

"I... thanks Iruka-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto as he pulled out Gama-chan and pocketed the cash.

"No problem, but remember to thank Gai and Kurenai-sensei as well," reminded the teacher as he dug into his bowl of ramen.

"Hai!" agreed Naruto as his stomach decided to loudly rumbled once again.

"Oi! Old man Teuchi! Three ramen pork bowls, stat!" yelled Naruto, grabbing at his burning tummy.

"Coming right up, Naruto. I was wondering where you were!" replied Teuchi as he got to work on Naruto's order.

"Oh my! Oh my I'm so excited!" cried Ayame as she caught sight of Naruto. "Tell me it's true! After all this time, did you and Hinata-chan really get together?!"

"Oh, ho ho!" laughed Teuchi merrily, "You finally figured out that pretty young thing was in love with you, huh?"

Naruto's only reply was simply banging his head repeatedly against the counter top as he cursed out _everyone_ he freaking knew.

This just made Iruka laugh as he caught Ayame's eye.

"How are you doing, love? Not working too hard I hope..." asked Iruka of his wife as she patted her round tummy.

"I'm fine, you worry-wort!" she teased back brandishing her ladle at her husband. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid!"

"Tou-chan!" cried out a small child as she ran out of the kitchen door. The little brown-haired girl wore her hair in a high ponytail just like her father.

"Hi, Nori-chan!" called Iruka as he lovingly picked up his daughter and placed her in his lap.

"Why is Uncle Naruto hurting himself like that?" asked the small girl as she pointed to the blond still repeatedly banging his head.

"Uh, that's because Uncle Naruto is kinda... silly," answered Iruka as he tried to figure out how to explain what was going on to his daughter. "He uh... didn't know Hinata-san _'liked,'_ liked him."

"What? Did you finally kiss Hinata-san, Naruto?" asked Nori as her eyes lit up with joy. "She's been wanting you to do that for a long while!"

"Even the three-year-old knew!" cried out Naruto in despair as he went immediately back to banging his head.

"Tou-chan?" questioned the little girl as she turned back towards her father. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's fine Nori-chan," replied Iruka trying to hold back a laugh. "Why don't you head back into the kitchen and help kaa-chan with the dishes."

"Yes, sir!" said Nori with a little salute as she ran back through the door to go help her mother.

"Order's up, Naruto!" called Teuchi as he placed Naruto's food down in front of him.

This finally snapped Naruto out of his funk as he started slurping up his noodles.

"Okay, Naruto. Now, spill!" commanded Ayame, "How did you finally wake up to Hinata loving you?"

Naruto swallowed up the rest of his noodles and finished with a sigh. "Okay so it was like this... you know how Hanabi was kidnapped, right? Well..."

* * *

"And then we... kissed under the light of the full moon," ended Naruto with a blush.

"Aww! That's so romantic!" cooed Ayame as she held little Nori in her arms. The small girl nodded her approval as well and let out a massive yawn.

"Well, I guess this little one's ready for a nap, huh?" asked Ayame as Nori rubbed at her tired eyes. "Say bye to Uncle Naruto, honey."

"Bye *yawn* Un'cle Naruto, I'm super... happy for you..." Nori whispered as Ayame carried her off to bed.

"Night Nori-chan, thanks," said Naruto as he waved her good-bye.

"So Naruto, you got plans with this girl of yours tonight?" asked Teuchi as he started drying the dishes.

"Hai, I'm a little nervous about it actually..." admitted Naruto with a bit of a blush.

"Don't worry kiddo, I've got just the thing!" exclaimed the old man as he headed into the back of the kitchen.

"_Uh oh," _thought Iruka as he had a pretty good idea what Teuchi had left to go get.

"So Naruto," said Iruka teasingly, "still think that part of my lesson was stupid?"

This made Naruto laugh, "No, Iruka-sensei. And... for what it's worth, I'm sorry for being such a pain back then..."

"There's no need to apologize, Naruto, I understand," replied Iruka with a smile as Teuchi returned carrying what appeared to be a cup of steaming hot tea.

"_Besides,"_ thought Iruka wickedly, _"Revenge is best served cold... or in this case, a piping hot cup of tea..."_

"What the heck is this old man?" asked Naruto as he sniffed the cup suspiciously.

Teuchi was about to answer when Iruka stopped him with a hand.

"Uh, why don't you just try it first, Naruto," suggested Iruka with a tense grin.

And of course, Naruto didn't even notice. He simply shrugged and started chugging the drink down.

"Huh, this is pretty good!" the blond exclaimed and then continued drinking it.

Iruka covered his mouth to hold back his laughter.

"Ah! See I knew the boy had good taste, Iruka!" declared Teuchi gruffly. "This is my own concoction. I call it: 'Sexy Time Tea!' It's _great_ for the libido! Sends the damn thing right into overdrive!"

"PPFF!" spat Naruto as the tea flew right back into Teuchi's wrinkled old face.

This caused Iruka to erupt into a full on fit of laughter.

"You know, Iruka-sensei..." growled Naruto as he grabbed some napkins to wipe himself off. "I find that your old prankster ways, still come out at the _worst_ freaking times!"

This just made Iruka laugh all the harder as he croaked out, "If you say so, Naruto!"

"Oi! Watch it there you young-in," grumbled Teuchi as he wiped off his face with a clean kitchen towel. "That drink got me two grandkids, so don't disrespect the tea!"

This made Iruka snort and whisper to Naruto that he had nicknamed it 'Icha Icha Tea.' Naruto simply looked at his brother horrified.

"What can I say," explained Iruka whilst laughing, "vengeance comes when one least expects it! That's the ninja way!"

This sent the poor blond back to banging his head against the table.

Naruto had the awful feeling he was going to have one loooong, _hard_, night.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Did I mention that I think innuendo is the highest for of art? LOL And before you ask, yes, I am the living embodiment of evil! Hehehe! And also yes, Iruka and Ayame are married in my story and I hope in Boruto's series we find out they are, too. And that they have a little female Iruka running around the village chasing after Boruto to keep him out of trouble. And yeah she's called Nori as in seaweed. What? I thought it was fitting! Anyway, it's my story so there! LOL Next Time: "Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me?!" Naruto heads over to the bbq place to make reservations and low and behold finds Shikamaru and Choji there! And Naruto finally asks the main question on his mind: "Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me?!" All this and more, next time!

And remember! Please read and review! They will really make me smile as I go on my two week road trip!


	6. Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me!

**Disclaimer:** "Icha Icha Tea" may cause burning, swelling, an insatiable need for manga, random sexy harem jutsu, summon frogs, dogs, and/or turtles, and if you smack your erection with a hammer, and it _still _doesn't go down... uh, then you should probably see a doctor.

LOL! Sorry, just had to do that! I own nothing. On with the fic!

* * *

~Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me?!~

* * *

"Bye, guys!" exclaimed Naruto as he waved to his family at the ramen stand.

"Good luck on your date, Naruto!" reassured Iruka with a grin. "You'll do fine!"

"Okay, so it's 4:30 already. Better get to the barbecue place and make that reservation," said Naruto to himself as he checked his watch.

"_Luckily, Iruka said the effects of that stupid tea should wear off soon," _thought Naruto ruefully, hoping that no one else wanted to _'help'_ with his date.

"Alright! Date plans are a go! Dattebayo!" yelled Naruto as he ran off into the street.

* * *

"There it is! I knew it was around here somewhere!" declared Naruto as he quickly ran up toward the establishment.

And it just so happened that Shikamaru and Choji had chosen that _exact _moment to exit the restaurant.

"Choji, seriously?" asked Shikamaru with an exaggerated sigh. "We _just_ ate man! Why are you already starting on a bag of chips?"

"It's just a ***munch*** quick snack ***munch* *munch* **to tied me over until supper. Besides, we ate a late lunch, Shikamaru."

"We went into the restaurant at 2:30! That's not _that_ late for lunch!" argued back the lazy ninja.

"Well it is for- oh hey Naruto!" said Choji as he finally noticed the blond staring at them.

"YOU TWO!" growled Naruto accusingly as he walked up to his stunned friends.

They both blinked and stared at the angry ninja questioningly.

"Naruto, you okay man?" asked Shikamaru raising his eyebrow.

"NO! I AM NOT OKAY!" screamed Naruto as he walked up and started poking Shikamaru in the chest. "I'VE JUST DISCOVERED THAT _**ALL**_ MY FRIENDS ARE A BUNCH OF A-HOLES!"

"Wait, what?" asked Choji as he swallowed his food.

"I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO ASK YOU GUYS THE **'IF'** ANY MORE. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS _**'WHY!?'**_"

"Why, what?"

"WHY, IF _**ALL**_ OF YOU KNEW HINATA WAS IN LOVE WITH ME, NONE OF YOU EVER TOLD ME!" roared Naruto as his voice sadly cracked on the last few words.

"Damn it," grumbled Shikamaru as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're so troublesome, Naruto. I should have seen this coming."

"Why, guys..." whispered Naruto hoarsely, his voice finally giving out. "You all _knew _how lonely I was. How lonely Hinata was... Shikamaru, dude I'm only going to admit this once. _I _am not smart! And you all _know_ I am not smart. I am _dense _as a freaking post! So, _why- _I mean... if _only_ I had known I-"

"Naruto..." said Shikamaru hesitantly, unsure of how to explain this to his friend. When Choji suddenly shoved his back of chips into Shikamaru's face.

"Choji? What-"

"Here, hold these for a moment Shikamaru. I'll handle this," commanded Choji with a determined air.

Shikamaru reached out and slowly took the chips with weak hands. Choji had _willingly_ put down food. The Shadow-user was _completely_ stunned.

Choji then vigorously dusted off his hands, reached out, and grasped Naruto by the shoulders.

"Naruto," said Choji sincerely, "look at me."

The blond looked up at him with tears lingering in the corners of his eyes, just ready to fall.

"Can you honestly say, that if_** any **_of us _**had**_ told you, that you would have _known _and_ understood _ what **love** truly meant, during that point of your life?"

Naruto's eyes went wide as he stared at Choji in shock. Because... the answer was _no_. He wouldn't have. Hell, he didn't even understand it when _**Hinata**_ had flat out told him all those years ago.

The blond's breath caught in his throat, causing him to choke up.

"You weren't _**ready**_ to know yet," answered Choji honestly. "If we would have told you, it would have only hurt you both. You two might not have even _**gotten**_ the chance to be together like you do now."

Naruto looked down at his feet. The blond then let out a defeated sigh. He knew Choji was right and that his friends only had the best intentions at heart.

"But... you're ready _now_," stressed Choji as he tightened his grip on Naruto's shoulders. "And in the end, that's all that really matters, right?"

Naruto then glanced back into Choji's eyes and smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Good I-," said Choji in relief as he turned back toward Shikamaru, and noticed that he had one of Choji's potato chips raised toward his mouth.

The man saw red. "Shikamaru! Put down the bag of chips _down_ and _slowly_ back away!" he commanded threateningly.

"Nope!" stated Shikamaru as he raised the chip towards his mouth, "I'm going to take this potato chip-"

"No! Don't you dare say it!"

"And I'm going to-"

Steam came out of Choji's nostrils like that of an angry bull, "HUMAN BULLET TANK!" he yelled spinning off toward Shikamaru.

"Uh oh!" exclaimed Shikamaru as he ran around trying to escape Choji's rolling attack.

This just made Naruto smile and shake his head. Maybe he had been stressing out too much about this. The past was the past. Choji was right, he and Hinata were together _now _and that's all that mattered.

"Oi! Naruto nii-chan! Naruto nii-chan!" called out Konohamaru as he and his teammates ran up to meet him.

"Is it true?" asked Moegi out of breath. "Did Hinata finally confess to you? And the two of you are going out now?"

Naruto simply blushed and answered, "Hai."

"Alright! Go Hinata!" exclaimed Udon as he and Moegi locked arms and spun around singing, "She did it! She did it!"

"Wait... hold on," said Konohamaru, starring intently at Naruto. "I mean, I get Hinata confessing to you, we've all known she's liked you for like _forever. _But... I thought you liked Sakura, So Naruto nii-chan, why are you going out with Hinata?"

"I-" Naruto looked at Konohamaru surprised. He was the first person all day to ask him that.

"I-well... I've come to realize that the love I feel for Sakura isn't the romantic kind. It's- she's... like my _**sister**_, and she's been like that for a long time now. I've just recently come to understand it though, and... that what I now feel for Hinata... is the real thing," answered Naruto honestly as he stared down at his younger friend.

"Hai, I understand Nii-chan," replied Konohamaru with a genuine smile. He then ran up and gave Naruto a big hug. This made Naruto grin as he wrapped his arms around Konohamaru and returned it.

"Thanks, kiddo. I really needed that," the blond said pulling out of the hug.

"No prob, nii-chan," answered Konohamaru with a sly grin, "Although, now I'm going to have perfect another form."

"Wait, what?" asked Naruto as Konohamaru yelled out "Sexy Jutsu!" and turned into a naked cloud covered version of _**Hinata.**_

"ACK!" croaked out Naruto as blood shot violently out of his nose.

"Naruto-kun, don't you want to play?" asked Konohamaru sweetly in Hinata's voice.

"TEME!" roared Naruto as he recovered and ran after the boy with murder in mind. Konohamaru simply changed back and ran off with his hysterically cackling friends.

Naruto just shook his fist angrily at the retreating trio saying, "You better watch out you three! I'll get you back when you least expect it!"

It was then that a very dusty pair of Choji and Shikamaru resurfaced from their "Chip Battle." Since Choji now held the bag again, it would seem that he was the ultimate victor.

"Dude, you rolled over the thing," stated Shikamaru with a sweat-drop. "All the chips are crushed, why the hell are you still eating it?"

"Because it's the principle of the thing now," explained the large man seriously. "The principle of the thing." Wind then dramatically blew through Choji's hair making him look like a triumphant hero as a crow flew by going Caw! Caw!

"Anyway, so Naruto. Are you taking Hinata out then tonight?" asked Shikamaru as he dusted off his clothes.

"I thought you _'didn't care if Hinata and I got together,'_ Shikamaru," teased Naruto lightly.

"Oi!" exclaimed Shikamaru with a roll of his eyes. "I only said that because you were acting like a pouting child!"

This caused Naruto to deflate a little. "Yeah, I know I was. Gomen, Shikamaru," he answered sadly.

The Shadow-user just sighed again.

"So troublesome," muttered Shikamaru under his breath and then said, "It's okay, Naruto. We all know that your heart often runs away with your head, it's just a part of who you are."

This made Naruto lighten up again.

"Just _try _not to let it affect the mission like that again, okay?" added Shikamaru understandingly.

"You got it dude!" replied Naruto with a salute.

"You never answered Shikamaru's original question, Naruto," stated Choji. "Are you taking Hinata out tonight?"

"I sure am, Dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto with a thumbs-up, good guy pose.

"Not to Ichiraku's I hope," teased Shikamaru with a sly grin.

"Nah... I was actually going to make a reservation at the barbecue place when I ran into you guys," said Naruto happily.

"Oh! Well I can help you with that," offered Choji kindly. "My family knows the owner, I can get you all kinds of great discounts. Come on, I'll go in with you and ask."

"Really?! Thanks, Choji! That's really awesome!"

"Think nothing of it my friend," said Choji as he draped a friendly arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Besides with you and Hinata finally getting together, the only couple left for me to match make for are Shikamaru and Temari!"

"Oh! Hehehe! I see! Yes, Shikamaru, how_ is_ that going?" teased Naruto with an evil grin. It felt good to be on the giving end of the conversation for _**once**_ that day!

"For the last time Choji! There's nothing going on between Temari and I!" yelled Shikamaru irately at his friends.

"I think he protests too much," whispered Choji dramatically to Naruto, this just set the blond off into a fit of giggles.

Shikamaru's right eye started twitching as he loudly declared, "Why would I EVER go out with that LOUD, OPINIONATED, OVERBEARING, DOMINEER-"

It was then that Choji and Naruto suddenly became _**very **_pale.

"She's standing right behind me, isn't she?" deduced the Shadow-user as he slowly turned around to face his doom.

"No, go _on_, Shikamaru," encouraged Temari as she dangerously unhooked her fan from her back. "Please! Tell me _more..._"

Shikamaru simply gulped and ran for the hills.

As Temari chased after him, she called back over shoulder, "Glad you woke up and stopped running from Hinata, Naruto."

And with that she took off after her troublesome prey.

"That is one dangerous woman," admitted Naruto as he watched Temari swing her fan, sending Shikamaru flying.

"Amen to that," agreed Choji as he then turned to Naruto and motioned that he should follow him into the restaurant. "Anyway, this place has amazing pork cheeks and-"

And so, Naruto had finished his mission to set up the perfect date for Hinata, but miserably failed at finding a single person who hadn't known she was already in love with him.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few hours later in the village of shifting sands.

"Oi! Gaara!" called Kankuro as he and Matsuri walked into his brother's office. "I just got an emergency message from Temari."

"Really?" asked the Sand-user as he put down his pen, "Did something happen in Konoha... why are you smiling?"

Kankuro just grinned and handed him the note, saying, "Oh, you'll see."

Gaara stared questioningly back at his brother and took the note. And after a few moments, he started smiling, too.

"Well Naruto, it would seem that you have finally become a vessel of love," whispered Gaara happily. "I was wondering when he was going to notice."

"Yeah, he's pretty dense about the ways of the heart. Like someone else we know, right Matsuri?" inquired Kankuro with a knowing grin.

Matsuri discreetly elbowed Kankuro in the stomach and gruffly replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course not," grunted back Kankuro still wearing his stupid grin.

Gaara just looked back and forth between them confused.

"Okay..." he said uncertainly. It was always odd the way they acted sometimes.

He shrugged it off as usual and said, "Remind me the next time we visit Konoha that the Hokage owes me twenty bucks."

"No prob, little bro!" Kankuro laughed in reply as Matsuri merrily giggled into her hand.

* * *

To be Continued...

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I believe a lot of people notice when others are in love, but are usually blind when it comes to themselves. So hope you all liked that little moment. Okay, guys. Only two chapters left! The next one is going to be more on the serious side. It's called "Unbroken Bonds." I don't want to spoil anything about it so that's all your getting. There's going to be a lot more of my own head cannon so I hope you like it. It also may be a little while because I really want to take my time with it.

Well that's it from me, I'm on my brother-in-law's internet right now. I'm still traveling on my moving/vacation so please remember to leave me lots of reviews so I'll smile on my trip!


	7. Unbroken Bonds!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing! There's barely any humor in this chapter guys, warning you now. I go really deep into Sasuke and Naruto's characters in this. So hold onto your hats! Hope you all like this chapter!

* * *

~Unbroken Bonds!~

* * *

Naruto walked through the village of Konoha. The thriving city was now bathed in twilight. The street lights began to awaken as the sun finished it's decent. The lamps eerily illumined Naruto's path as he walked along in silence. Slowly, the blond made his way toward his destination. He was dressed in a long sleeved orange dress shirt with black racing stripes down the front and a black leather jacket. In his hands, he held two cups and jug of sake.

With a sigh, Naruto finally reached his goal. He bent over and bushed away the dirt that had accumulated on the granite plaque. It was a routine that he and Hinata had become quite accustomed to whenever they visited this place. His hand caressed the etched name with reverence, Hyuga Neji.

With a grunt, the blond sat down in front of his friend's grave. He placed one of the cups next to stone and filled it up.

He then poured some sake into his own and said, "Cheers!" Naruto downed the cup in one big gulp.

"COUGH! Man, Jiraiya-sensei wasn't kidding; this shit burns!" exclaimed Naruto as he spoke to Neji's gravestone. "I don't drink that much because Kurama's chakra burns off the effects real quick, but I felt the need to share a drink with you today."

Naruto then refilled his sake cup and decided to sip the contents this time. He stared contemplatively at the grave.

"Neji…" he started with a sigh, "I honestly don't know what to say… You not only gave your life to save Hinata's and mine, but you had meant it to be more, didn't you? "

Naruto then took a sip from his cup and continued, "You knew Hinata loved me. One or both of us could have died that day and we…"

He trailed of and stared at the grave, roughly swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Your sacrifice gave us the chance to find one another," stated Naruto profoundly. "We owe you _everything_, Neji."

The blond then place a hand on the gravestone and declared, "Hinata and I will do everything in our power to change the Hyuga. We promise you that."

Naruto then bowed his head, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and concluded, "Thank you my dear friend. With all that I am, arigato."

His closed eyes then twitched for a moment as he felt another's presence.

"What do you want, teme?" growled out Naruto irritatedly.

He then turned toward a maple tree and asked, "Can't you see I'm busy right now?"

A shadowed figure came out from behind it and answered, "Gomen, dobe. I didn't realize that you were here."

Naruto just snorted and asked, "So what's up?"

Sasuke shrugged and replied, "Sakura told me you were finally going out on a date with Hinata tonight. She said I needed to find your sorry ass to make sure you got there on time."

He should have known. Ever since he and Sasuke had developed their sixth sense to tell each other's location, Sakura had been using it to her advantage.

Naruto let out a grunt of disapproval and stated, "Well, she didn't have to go though the trouble. I'm all set!"

And with that, he quickly stood up and dusted himself off. Naruto then reached out, picked up the two cups, and poured the rest of the sake onto the ground.

Afterward he grabbed the jug as well, and then bowed to Neji's grave.

"I will visit you again soon my friend," promised Naruto. He then swiftly turned and walked toward Sasuke.

The Uchiha watched in silence as his friend made his way to over to the tree.

When he arrived, they both simply sat down and stared up at the stars.

Remorsefully, Sasuke glanced back at Neji's grave and said, "Gomen…"

Naruto looked at him with a questioning eyebrow.

"That I arrived too late to help Neji," explained the last Uchiha. "If only I had realized everything earlier…"

"It's not your fault," stated Naruto solemnly. "He gave his life so we could all have a chance to live. He wouldn't want you to waste any of it on feeling guilty."

"But…"

"No," stressed Naruto, "What happened, _happened_. Let's just move on."

"Hai," answered Sasuke with a sigh as he looked back up at the night sky.

"So…" asked Naruto as he shyly scratched the back of his head, "I take you being here means that you also knew?"

Sasuke smirked at his old friend and replied, "Honestly, Naruto. Everyone knew."

Having received his final confirmation, Naruto groaned in utter defeat.

"Sakura's never going to let me hear the end of this," he said forlornly.

"Nope. Sorry, dobe," confirmed raven-haired man with a grin.

Naruto then started banging the back of his head against the trunk of the tree.

"_How_ could I not have known?" lamented Naruto to the night sky. "I even missed my _own _signs. I didn't realized what I was feeling for her was love until yesterday!"

"Oh, that?" asked Sasuke with grunt, "I already knew you loved her back."

"**NANI?!**" exclaimed Naruto in shock. "How could _you_ have known that when _**I **_sure as hell didn't?"

Sasuke let out a sigh of disgust and replied, "Seriously, dobe? You nearly dove at her after she had been placed under the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

Naruto blushed bright red. He had forgotten teme had witnessed that.

"Well anyway," said Naruto embarrassingly as he tried to change the subject, "I'm all ready so you can report back to Sakura that I'm good to go."

Sasuke turned and stared at Naruto for a few moments in silence.

"Actually… there's something I wanted to talk to you about before you go…." eventually confessed the raven-haired man.

"Oh, like what?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Well… how do I put this…" Sasuke stated with an air of uncertainty.

"Teme," grunted the blond as his annoyance grew, "just spit it out. Whatever it is, with all you and I have been through, do you honestly think I'd hold it against you."

"Hmm…" said Sasuke as he stared grimly at his friend.

He then took a deep breath and said, "…. I lied."

"Okay," replied Naruto unsure of where exactly this was going.

"Well… not so much as lied as…. I had forgotten…" confessed the Uchiha.

"Alright, what had you forgotten?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"You…" said Sasuke as he looked Naruto straight in the eye, "were not my first friend."

"And, you're telling me this now… why?" asked Naruto very confused. Sometimes he still didn't understand the motivations of his friend.

"When I was young, before the Uchiha Massacre," explained Sasuke with a sad sigh, "I had a friend outside of my family. … She was the daughter of a prominent clan leader within the village."

Naruto's eyes went wide.

"My father thought it would be advantageous to start a friendship with her… for the good of the clan," confessed the raven-haired man. "The two of us would play together whenever our fathers had a meeting. I hadn't meant for it to happen… but she became my first real friend."

"Hinata?" whispered Naruto in awe. He never knew the two of them had any history.

The raven-haired man looked away from his friend and back up at the stars.

"Hai," confirmed Sasuke solemnly, "Hers was the first bond outside of my family that I forged… and the very first I broke."

As he finished, Sasuke closed his eyes in despair.

"We spent every chance we could together," continued Sasuke as he opened his eyes again to stare at the moon. "Being part of such important clans was hard for most of the other children to understand."

Naruto sat quietly, watching Sasuke reminisce.

"While Hinata was always pressured to meet all of her family's expectations, I other hand was the second child," explained the raven-haired man softly. "At that point Itachi was still the heir and I was the spoiled brat who just wanted to be acknowledged."

Sasuke then turned back to address Naruto, "I… actually learned a lot about Itachi by having known Hinata-chan."

This made Naruto look down sadly.

"In fact… she was the one who first told me about you," whispered Sasuke, trapped deep in his long forgotten memories.

Naruto's whole body jerked as he looked back up at Sasuke in surprise.

"Hinata…" asked the blond hoarsely, "told you about me?"

Sasuke then relayed to Naruto what he remembered…

* * *

_~Flashback~_

* * *

"_The other kids called me a monster and he came to my defense,"_ _explained Hinata to her friend. "I get the feeling that he's been called that a lot over the years…"_

_As she trailed off, Sasuke jumped in, "You don't have to rely on that kid to protect you, Hinata-chan! I'm sure I could take care of them myself. And if not, I'd bet Itachi nii-chan would be willing to give them a good scare."_

_Sasuke grinned confidently as Hinata quickly answered with a shake of her head, "Oh, dear, no! You both don't have to go through all that trouble just for me!"_

"_But I want to!" exclaimed Sasuke determinedly, "You are such a wonderful person, Hinata-chan. Best friends stick together, and I want to be there for you!"_

"_That's very sweet of you, Sasuke-kun," replied Hinata with a small smile. "But those bullies are my problem. I don't want you getting hurt on my behalf."_

_Hinata then blushed a bit as she looked away from Sasuke. _

"_They… hurt Naruto-kun pretty badly," explained Hinata as she gripped her hands into tight fists, "He was… so very brave."_

"_Oh?" asked Sasuke teasingly as he inched closer to her. "Sounds like someone has a crush!"_

"_What?! N-no! It's nothing like that!" she loudly protested as her face became even redder. _

"_Hehehe! Then why are you blushing?" playfully joked the raven-haired boy at his friend. _

"_I-I…" stuttered Hinata, unsure of how to reply, "well maybe a little. He… was just so brave and strong. I wish I could have done it on my own. I want to be able to stand up to bullies like he did."_

"_Well, __**that **__I can help you with!" declared Sasuke with a childish grin, "Come on, let's go out to the field and train!"_

_The raven-haired boy then grabbed the little girl's hand and dragged her outside._

* * *

"And then…" said Naruto as Sasuke trailed off, knowing what was coming next.

"The massacre happened," confirmed the raven-haired man, "A few days after, I found a beautifully wrapped bento box left on my doorstep with a card."

Naruto groaned sadly and asked, "Let me guess, you fried it?"

"Hai," answered Sasuke in almost a whisper, "I nearly burned down the whole Uchiha complex with the number of fireballs I launched."

"I incinerated it," he confessed remorsefully, "and I never spoke to Hinata again."

The blond just sighed and shook his head.

"At school, she was the only girl that left me alone. And other than you, she was the only one I couldn't bring myself to hate," admitted the last Uchiha. "Every time I'd glance at her, all I'd feel was indifference. It was as if she simply no longer existed to me."

"Perhaps that was the worst thing of all," finished Sasuke as he once again turned forlornly toward the night sky.

Naruto then coughed into his hand to make sure he caught Sasuke's attention.

When he finally glanced back at the blond, Naruto asked with a sly smirk, "So… you really think all that broke your bond with Hinata, huh?"

"What are you on about, dobe?" questioned Sasuke indignantly. "Of course it did!"

This made Naruto laugh as his grin slightly widened.

He then replied, "You are greatly underestimating, Hinata-chan."

This made Sasuke snort as he immediately dismissed the blond's claim, "Are you serious? There's no way she still considers me a friend after all that!"

"If there's one thing I know about Hinata-chan," said Naruto with complete certainty, "it is that her heart doesn't change."

Sasuke simply raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"If she loves someone. She'll love them forever, no matter what they put her through," continued Naruto determinedly. "Look at both Neji and me, she still loved _us _after everything."

Sasuke glanced down with a frown as he contemplated this.

"Hinata probably just wanted to give you some space," added the blond with a nod of confirmation. "She knew that you would eventually come and talk to her when you were ready. My guess… she's still waiting, even after all these years."

"I… maybe," whispered Sasuke as he wondered if anything he'd thought during that time had actually been true.

"Did you know," asked Naruto confidently, "that when we went after you during your showdown with Itachi, Hinata had been the one who volunteered her group?"

Sasuke stared at his blond friend in surprise.

"And that she was the only one of our friends that didn't question Sakura and I when we said that only I would confront you," added Naruto with a sly, foxy smirk.

"Really?" questioned Sasuke uncertainly.

"Yeah," confirmed the blond, "she agreed that we had to stop you. But Hinata told me in private that she understood what I was doing and why."

"Huh…" said the last Uchiha, unable to come up with a more eloquent response.

"You know… ," confessed Sasuke sadly, "there are still days that I look back at that time horrified at what I had become."

Naruto looked down sadly.

"I let my hate consume me… and all of you almost paid the price," said Sasuke in despair. "It doesn't matter how long I atone, there's nothing I can ever do to make up for the things I've done."

The blond next to him thought for a moment and then asked, "Do know what the hardest training I ever did was?"

"Dobe, what the hell does that have to do with anything?" questioned the last Uchiha exasperatedly.

"Bear with me," pleaded Naruto as he held up pacifying hands, "It was with Bee-sensei. During part of my training, I had to face my dark side."

Now _this _caught Sasuke's attention, he stared at him intensely and waited for Naruto to continue.

"The hate and resentment that still lingered inside of me from when the village believed I was the fox; had taken on human form," explained Naruto. "He… looked exactly like me, expect for the eyes… so bitter, angry, and cold."

With a sigh Naruto then asked, "Do you know how I beat it?"

The raven-haired man looked at him for a moment and then shook his head.

"I reached out," said Naruto as he held out his arms, "… and I hugged him."

The blond then did the exact same thing to his perpetually cranky friend.

"Ugh! Dobe, let me go. I thought you were being serious for_ once_," grumbled Sasuke in irritation.

"I am!" answered Naruto with a laugh, "My past, that darkness? They will always be a part of what made me who I am. If I hadn't suffered through the things I had, I wouldn't be the same person I am today."

"What?" whispered the last Uchiha in disbelief.

"The hardest thing in life is to accept pain," explained Naruto sagely. "The fact is that you did suffer. Now you have to walk away, and leave that pain behind."

"How…" asked Sasuke softly.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," answered the blond solemnly. "Only you can do it. All I can do is be there for you and help you find a way."

This made Sasuke sigh and glance away.

"You don't have to atone anymore, Sasuke," encouraged Naruto. "All you're doing is wallowing in your own guilt. You're just causing more unnecessary pain for yourself… and Sakura-chan as well."

"I don't deserve her," admitted the raven-haired man. "I still don't understand how… _why_… she would still love me after everything I put her through? …At first, I thought it was just a crush, like all the other girls had on me… but it was _real._ And I didn't realize it until it was too late."

"Yeah, well, we both seem to be quite good at that ," teased Naruto as he released Sasuke from his embrace, but left his one arm wrapped around his shoulders. "See the thing is you are asking a question that can't be answered."

"Really…" said the Uchiha condescendingly, "do explain to me the depths of the female mind."

"Teme!" exclaimed Naruto as he gave Sasuke a quick punch to his good arm. "Just listen! Sakura explained all this to me when I… was _**confused**_ about Hinata's actions."

The blond then blushed for a moment thinking of the woman. He then pushed it aside and presented his case, "Sakura said that when a woman truly falls in love, nothing can change it. And… that she understood how Hinata felt _very_ well."

"Humph," replied Sasuke as he glanced away. "Whatever…"

But Naruto could tell he was secretly happy to hear it.

"Anyway, she also said that love will always be a part of them," explained the blond. "All the two of us have to do is accept and return it. And having only really experienced that love for one day, I can honestly say, I don't know how I ever lived without it."

Naruto then glanced at his watch and yelled, "Oh, shit! I'd better get going or I'm going to be late!"

With that he scrambled to his feet, and quickly gathered the sake set together.

"See yah, teme!" exclaimed Naruto as he turned to take off.

"Dobe," called Sasuke before he left.

Naruto turned and looked back at him with a questioning eyebrow.

"If you hurt Hinata… I'll kill you," stated Sasuke very seriously.

This just made the blond laugh and reply, "Right back at you for Sakura-chan! She's like my sister so that means I have every right to kick your sorry ass!"

"Yeah right, dobe, like you ever could," answered Sasuke with an arrogant snort.

"Night, man!" exclaimed Naruto as he quickly took off for his date.

The last Uchiha sat and stared at his friend's quickly retreating back. He idly wondered when exactly he had started to return Sakura's feelings.

Was it during their first mission when she cried over his body? Or was it when she offered to leave the village with him. He really wasn't sure…

Over and over again, he tried to make her hate him. He **_had_** to snuff out her love for him; it would only hurt her. The day that he had almost used Chidori on her, he had felt Naruto approaching. The last fragment of him that wasn't consumed by hate had hoped the blond would save her in time. And yet… after all that, she still loved him.

Sasuke ruefully smirked to himself. What a fool he had been. He had always thought that he was good at breaking bonds. But it would seem that all the important ones still remained unbroken.

"Ironic isn't it, nii-chan?" asked Sasuke to the night sky, hoping that his question might somehow reach his brother in the great beyond.

And the thought of that, made Sasuke truly smile for the first in a long time.

* * *

**To Be Continued…..**

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Woot! Well hope everyone liked the chapter! I liked who Sasuke was becoming before the whole stupid curse mark thing, so this is me trying to get him back to square one to get him on that path again. Anyway, It's just my way of looking at it. Only one more to go! The great finale, "The Date!" Will it go the way Naruto has planned? *Snort!* No way in hell! Be prepared for one wild ride! Once again, I'm going to take my time with this one, especially because it's the last one. I'm not sure when it will be out, but I have been trying to keep these a week or two apart so we shall see.

All this and more, next time!

Oh! And I'm back from my trip so please remember to read and review!


	8. The Date! (Part 1)

**Disclaimer:** It is time! Okay guys, as you can probably already tell, I decided to break "The Date!" into parts because this last chapter was going to be **massive** when compared to all the others.

All that means is that you will now have 2 more parts and a quick epilogue tacked onto the end of the last one. So that's 10 chapters in total for the whole story.

So yay! You all have a good deal more story to look forward to! LOL!

Anyway, no more jokes or long-assed speeches. I own nothing, this is written solely for the love of all things powerful, heartbreaking, silly and over the top found in Naruto! Let's get right too it!

I am now pleased to present:

* * *

~The Date! (Part 1)~

* * *

Naruto checked himself over as he approached the Hyuga estate. "Okay, clothes, Check! Flower Scroll, Check! Breath-" the blond said as he then breathed into his hand. "Eh... better pop a mint to be safe."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of mints, and stuck one into his mouth. "Okay," he mumbled as the candy dissolved. "Just play it cool, and all will go fine. … I'm only dating one of my best friends, and if it goes badly, I'll lose her forever as both a friend and _girl_friend."

The blond laughed nervously as he choked down the rest of the mint over the lump in his throat. "Yeah, no pressure. None at all!"

With a tired sigh he tried to pat down his spiky-hair again and then exclaimed, "Alright, showtime!"

And with that, Naruto walked up to the gates of the Hyuga household.

* * *

As he neared the entrance, a guard suddenly appeared in front of the entryway. Naruto froze for a moment and stared at the man... he seemed familiar somehow.

"Halt, state your name and business," demanded the Hyuga as his eyes enlarged and his veins expanded.

Honestly, with the number of times Naruto visited over the years you'd think they'd have cut out the formalities by now. But the Hyuga clan as all about tradition, now wasn't it? "Uh- Uzumaki Naruto, I have an... appointment with Lady Hinata tonight," answered Naruto nervously.

"Hmm..." replied the guard as he's eyes returned to normal. Then with a quick nod, he walked off to the side and said, "Please, proceed."

Naruto straightened his back and held his head high as he walked toward the guard. Just as he was about to pass the man softly commented, "It would seem that you have finally returned the feelings that Lady Hinata bestowed upon you..."

Naruto froze for a moment and glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye.

"You know..." he continued with a reserved air, "during the Pain attack I ordered her not to engage him, that she would only be a hindrance..."

Naruto's fists tightened of their own accord.

"I was also the one who had whisked Hinata-sama away after you protected her from those children all those years ago," explained the man in a neutral tone.

The blond's eyes went wide for a moment and then settled into a cold glare. "I remember you, now, you're Ko."

"Hai," confirmed the man as he continued to stare straight ahead, not even glancing at Naruto as he spoke. "In her youth, I was Hinata-sama's protector."

The blond's fists began to shake as he tried his best to hold his emotions in check. He remembered this guy alright. He remembered him roughly grabbing Hinata and ordering her never to associate with him again. As Ko dragged her away, right before Naruto fell unconscious, he had seen her heartbroken tears as she tried to return to his side.

"But..." said Ko neutrally, "I believe that you did a far better job of that than I, over the years."

With that statement, the anger the blond had been holding back left him. His back straightened again as he confusedly glanced back at Ko.

"Repeatedly, I had to order her to stay away from you," stated the man as a slight grin spread across his stern face. "It was the only order of mine she ever disobeyed."

Ko then glanced at the blond and whispered, "And I'm very glad she did."

Before Naruto could say anything in response, Hanabi burst though the main doors and exclaimed, "There you are!"

She then quickly ran up and grabbed Naruto's hand. "We were wondering where you've been!"

"Come on!" she exclaimed and dragged him towards the door.

"I-oops! Sorry, Hanabi. Just a sec okay!" begged Naruto as he then stiffened and said, "Ko..."

The Hyuga turned and glanced at Naruto's back.

"You're wrong," countered the blond as he stared at Hanabi with a smile. "I wasn't her protector..."

He then turned his glowing smile toward Ko and stated, "She was _mine._"

And with that Naruto turned back and followed Hanabi into the compound.

* * *

"Uh... Hanabi?" questioned Naruto as the young kunoichi dragged him through the halls. "Isn't Hinata's room in the other direction?"

"Oh? And Just how would _you_ know that Naruto?" teased Hanabi as Naruto blushed red.

"I- well I have been here before! Seriously, where are you taking me Hanabi?"

"Well Hinata nee-chan isn't ready yet," answered Hanabi with a wink as she dragged him through the second training hall, making branch and main members alike stare. "The Inseparable Kunoichi Quartet have their hooks deep in her."

"The who, what?" asked Naruto really confused.

Hanabi just merrily laughed, ducked behind him, and started pushing the boy from the back. "That's what my friends and I call nee-chan, Sakura, Tenten, and Ino. Those four really have a close friendship. They've been working all afternoon to make Hinata look perfect for your date."

"But- Hinata-chan's perfect the way she i-"

"Aww!" coed Hanabi as she came to a stop before an impressive looking door. "You two are just so cute!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Naruto as he glared at the young girl, "Hinata and I are two grown adults; we are not cute!"

The dark-haired girl simply giggled as she brushed off and straightened Naruto's leather jacket, "Please, the two of you in love is like the living embodiment of adorable. Now chin up, you want to look presentable for tou-chan."

"Wait? TOU-CHAN?!" exclaimed Naruto who was immediately frazzled just as Hanabi slid open the door and bowed. "Father, I have brought Uzumaki Naruto as you requested."

Hiashi looked up from the paperwork on his desk and said, "Ah, yes. Thank you, Hanabi. You are excused." As the man waved her off, she turned to Naruto with a quick wink, and made a hasty retreat back out the door.

"_Hanabi, I don't care if you are Hinata-chan's little sis. I am __**so **__getting you back for this,__" _thought Naruto as bullets of sweat ran down his face.

He then respectfully bowed and said, "Hiashi-sama, it is good to see you are well after your battle with the Ōtsutsuki clan's puppets."

"Indeed," answered Hiashi as he motioned for Naruto to sit in the chair in front of his desk. The blond quickly complied. "If it was not for your friend Sasuke, I do not believe I would still be alive."

"Hai," agreed Naruto readily. "He has become quite good at knowing right when he's most needed."

"Truly," said Hiashi with a nod, "but I must admit that it shall be a great length of time before I trust him again."

"Understandable," replied Naruto calmly, "Sasuke is very much aware of the effort it will take to regain the trust he has lost."

Hiashi nodded and reached for his tea.

"But he is willing to do so," insisted Naruto as the Hyuga raised the cup to his lips, "and I think that in and of itself says much."

Hiashi raised a inquisitive eyebrow at him. "You have been practicing your speech. I must admit I'm rather pleased, Kakashi-sama has taught you well."

The elder then took a sip and placed his teacup back on the table.

"But enough of this, that is not why you are here."

"No, Hiashi-sama," he answered respectfully, "I am here, to ask permission to date your daughter."

"Really?" asked Hiashi with a bit of a smirk, "And here I was under the impression that you were simply going to do so."

Naruto tried to swallow the nervous lump forming in his throat.

"It was my understanding that you were still under Lady Tsunade's care if-"

Hiashi waved his explanation away, "It's alright son, you needn't go through the trouble." And with that the Hyuga leader stiffly stood, and walked over to the window.

He stared out at the gardens for a few moments before he said, "I have had my eye on you for quite sometime, Uzumaki Naruto. And... I believe I owe you a great deal of thanks."

"I- me, sir?" questioned Naruto uncertainly.

"You saved my family... when I had nearly destroyed it," stated the stern man to the window.

"I- beg your pardon, Hiashi-sama," confessed Naruto in surprise. "I'm afraid I don't know how-"

"You cheered my daughter on when she fought Neji. It was _you_ that gave her the support she truly needed all these years. You showed Neji that there was more to life than... _this_," he gestured around to the walls in disgust.

"When I was a young man, I swore I would do better than all heads that had come before me. But after I lost my brother and my wife I simply didn't have the will to fight the council any longer," admitted the man with a defeated sigh. "I always knew Hinata had it in her to be the clan head, but..."

"They convinced you otherwise," replied Naruto sadly. He knew Hinata was still deeply hurt over that.

"And throughout these last few years, I have come to the conclusion that if you could change Hinata and Neji for the better- then maybe, just maybe you might be able to do so for this broken clan as well."

"I- Hiashi-sama-"

"So my answer is yes, Naruto, you may date my daughter," declared Hiashi with an air of finality as he turned back to stared at the blond haired man. "Not just for the clan's sake though... she has loved you for more years than I can count..."

"Hai," answered Naruto bashfully with a small grin. "And before you ask, yes, Hiashi-sama. I do return it. For... the longest time, I didn't know what it was. But now that I do, I'm quite determined to never lose it."

Hiashi then activated his eyes, "You had better son, because it is not wise to test my restraint where my daughters are concerned."

"Duly noted," affirmed Naruto with a sweatdrop. "And just so you know, it's been thanks to _Hinata_ helping me with my formal speech over the last year that I've come so far."

"Indeed?" asked Hiashi with pride, "She truly can make miracles then."

A rapid knock at the door interrupted them as a high pitched voice sang out, "Tou-chan! If you haven't killed him yet, nee-chan's ready for her date!"

Hiashi let out an irritated huff and made his way toward the door. "Hanabi! What did I tell you about speaking like that in front of guests?"

"Oh, please, tou-chan, it's just Naruto," declared Hanabi as she skirted around her father and went to grab Naruto's hand.

"Come on!" she said excitedly, "She looks amazing!" and quickly dragged him from the room.

"Hanabi! Uh- bye Hiashi-sama!" exclaimed Naruto as he let the insane young girl drag him off into the household again.

Hiashi simply watched their backs as a wisp of a grin graced his lips.

* * *

Hanabi spoke a mile a minute as she dragged Naruto off toward the girls.

"She looks incredible. I told her if she had only started dressing more fashionably she might of caught your eye quicker."

"Wait, _what? _Hanabi that's just-"

"We're here!" she called merrily as Sakura came through the sliding screen doors.

"About time you got here!" growled the woman brandishing her fist at him.

"Sakura, chill!" pleaded Naruto with raised hands, "I was just talking to Hiashi-sama, I was on time! Beside Hanabi said you girls weren't ready yeah."

"Okay, fine," huffed out Sakura as she turned a discerning eye upon Naruto. "Uh-huh, uh-huh," she said as she critically reviewed his outfit.

After a few moments she said, "Well Naruto, I must admit I'm impressed. You _actually_ did a good job!"

"You don't have to sound so surprised," he grumbled in response.

"Anyway, well pulled out all the stops!" said Sakura excitedly as Ino and Tenten came out and stood in front of the sliding doors.

"You look great Naruto, don't be nervous," whispered Tenten as she muffled a laugh behind her hand.

"Not bad," said Ino critically, "It'll do. Just remember the _mountains _Naruto!"

"Hai," agreed Naruto nervously as he discreetly protected his crotch.

"Oh, would you give it a rest with that!" snapped Sakura in disgust as she gave Ino a smack to the back of the head. "What kind of girl do you think Hinata is? They are no where near ready for that!"

"I meant _later _like in a few months," explained Ino as she rubbed at the sore spot. "Not _now, _jeeze! And you say _I'm_ the horny pervert."

"_**You**_ are the horny pervert, Ino-pig!" yelled Sakura as she got up into Ino's face. Luckily, as usual Tenten was the voice of reason. "Girls! Girls! Calm down this is Hinata's night, remember? Truce?"

The two glared at each other for a moment and then sighed and agreed, "Truce."

"Can I see Hinata, now?" whined Naruto. He was getting really sick of all these interruptions.

"Oh! Oh yeah, duh!" exclaimed Sakura as smacked her head and quickly ducked behind Naruto and started pushing him toward the sliding doors.

"Ready, ladies?" asked Sakura as Ino and Tenten each grabbed a side. "On three!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

The doors dramatically slid open to reveal, an enchantress.

Hinata's long dark hair was pulled up in a loose bun with interwoven flower accents. Her dress was a short, simple cut that was a shade of dark lavender that contrasted her eyes. Around her waist was a lavender belt of a lighter shade, with a few small flora accents added that matched the ones in her hair. To cover her arms, she wore a shimmering violet shawl, the same color as her hair. Around her neck, she wore a simple amber pendant on a silver chain and on her feet, were a pair of white heels.

She looked up shyly at Naruto's eyes with a tomato red blush.

He simply stared back at her in slack-jawed wonder. Hinata was always pretty, but tonight she was freaking _**gorgeous!**_

"_And... she really wants to go out with, me?"_ asked the little voice of uncertainty in Naruto's head.

"Well, I think we did well ladies," said Sakura as she unsuccessfully tried to hide a snort of laughter behind her hand.

"Yeah, maybe a little too well," whispered Tenten dramatically, "I think we _broke_ him!"

"Naruto," grunted Ino as she nudged the man in the gut, "Flowers."

"Uh... what?" asked Naruto with a goofy grin as he started to snap out of his daze.

"Ugh! The flowers you moron!" hissed Ino angrily, "Give Hinata the flowers now!"

"Oh, oh yeah!" exclaimed Naruto as his brain finally kicked in. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the blue scroll. "So I got something for you, Hinata!" declared Naruto shakily as he tried to undo the seal.

It was then that Ino noticed it. "No! Naruto that's-"

But it was too late. He had already undone the seal. And with a mighty POOF! A bunch of sunflower seeds and Iris bulbs flew out into Naruto face.

He stood there for a stunned moment and blinked at Hinata before he shook the seeds out of his hair.

"Oops," said Naruto while bashfully scratching the back of his head. "That was the wrong scroll."

"Seriously, Naruto? I can't even believe the things you do sometimes!" exclaimed Sakura with a smack to her forehead.

"You idiot!" berated Ino as she slapped his shoulder, "I knew you were going to screw it up!"

Hanabi was rolling on the floor in laughter as Tenten added, "And I think you need a refresher on how to unseal things Naruto, jeeze!"

All while Hinata laughed breathlessly into her hand and smiled lovingly at him.

This made Naruto feel better, because it seemed that the only woman in the room he really wanted to impress didn't appear to be mad at him.

He pushed past the other girls and went up to Hinata. Naruto then pulled out the red scroll and unsealed it properly.

"Sorry, about that," he apologized with a blush and handed Hinata the bouquet.

"Oh!" gasped Hinata in surprise as she beheld the beautiful arrangement, "Naruto, they're beautiful. Arigato!"

"Oooo! Aww!" said Sakura and Tenten as they saw the bouquet. "Nice!" exclaimed Hanabi as well.

"And it was mostly Naruto's work," interjected Ino with an impressed air.

"Really?" asked Sakura with a disbelieving tone.

"Hai," confirmed Ino proudly, "he said the Iris reminded him of Hinata-chan..."

This made both Naruto and Hinata blush and shyly look away.

"Did- did you really say that, Naruto?" stuttered out Hinata nervously.

"I-I uh... hai," he answered in the same embarrassed manner.

Sakura snickered as she discreetly checked her watch.

"Oh, man! It's getting late," she exclaimed running up to Hinata. Sakura then took the flowers out of her hands and gave them to Hanabi while Tenten and Ino helped Hinata on with her coat.

"The girls and I will put these in water. But you two better get going!" insisted pink-haired woman as she gestured toward the door.

And with that the four kunoichi proceeded to push and shove the unlucky couple through the Hyuga household back out the main doors.

The four girls then stood in the entrance and wave the pair good-bye. "Have a great date!" "Tell us everything when you get back!" "Remember your manners!" "See you later!"

Hinata and Naruto gave each other a confused glance and shrugged. Naruto then offered Hinata his hand, that she willingly took. And the two walked off into the night.

As Ino waved good-bye, she whispered out of the side of her mouth to Sakura, "We're going to follow them, right?"

"Oh hell's yeah," was the pink-haired woman's emphatic reply.

* * *

"So..." said Naruto awkwardly as he tried to think up a conversation starter. "You uh- really do look very nice, Hinata-chan..."

Hinata turned and gave him one of her shy smiles.

Naruto then quickly back tracked thinking he had maybe said something wrong, "I-I not that you don't always look incredible I just meant-"

She let out another of her breathy laughs and replied, "It's okay, Naruto-kun. I know what you meant. Thank you for the compliment."

The blond simply blushed and croaked out, "Oh, okay, good. Good."

This just made Hinata laugh harder as she and Naruto continued their walk.

After a few moments of silence, Hinata asked with a soft cough, "So... I was wondering Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"The first scroll you had opened... what was all that?"

"Oh, _that?_" he repeated with an awkward crack in his voice, "That was... just some supplies for... uh- you know a project I was thinking of starting."

"Really?" inquired Hinata with sincere interest, "were you thinking of trying to start your garden again?"

"I-" stated Naruto when he suddenly froze, "You know about my garden?" he questioned back in shock. He was pretty sure that none of his friends had known about his little hobby when he was younger. There was a secret spot near one of the lakes where he liked to try and plant flowers and herbs. But eventually some of the villagers' children had caught wind of it and well... it didn't last long.

Now it was Hinata's turn to be flustered, "I- well... I would see you from time to time go there and I um- knew how heartbreaking it was for you when those kids destroyed it. I... had hoped the plant I left at your apartment would cheer you up-"

Naruto's eyes went wide, "Whoa! Stop, rewind- you... _**you**_ were the one who gave me Mr. Ukki?!" he said completely stunned.

"_I had always thought Old Man Third had left that on my doorstep all those years ago," _thought Naruto in amazement.

"I- well yes..." stuttered Hinata uncertainly as she played with her fingers. "I was um... nervous about whether or not it would be well _**received**_ so I- um... d-didn't leave a note."

"I- oh... I see," replied Naruto as he internally thought, _"That's most likely because of Sasuke-teme. Screw you and your damn fireballs! I could have befriended her a whole lot sooner if it wasn't for you!"_

Hinata bashfully blushed and averted her eyes. Naruto then coughed gently into his hand to regain her attention, "I- arigato, Hinata-chan. Mr. Ukki helped me get through a lot of hard times over the years..."

Hinata's head snapped to attention at hearing that, "Oh, really? T-that's wonderful, Naruto-kun. I'm so very glad you liked it."

"I- uh yeah, so the bulbs and seeds," explained Naruto finally getting back to Hinata's original question, "I was going to plant them in this new place I found, and well I k-kinda thought it might be nice to go there and pick them together. You know, for Neji's grave."

"Oh, Naruto," whispered Hinata clearly touched, "That's so thoughtful. Of course, I would love to join you."

"Really? That's great!" exclaimed Naruto in relief. He hadn't been planning to ask her about the idea just yet, but it seemed like it had turned out well.

Naruto gripped her hand a little tighter as he felt the need to ask, "S-so you, don't think it's silly; I mean, me having a garden?"

Hinata saw the clear vulnerability apparent on the blond's face as he asked.

"Oh Naruto, of course not," she answered sincerely. "I think it's a wonderful hobby to have! I... actually love to press flowers so it's something we could both do together."

"R-really?" he questioned with a touch of insecure hope.

"Hai," confirmed the dark-haired woman as she snuggled closer to Naruto's warm body in the frigid winter air. Naruto let out a sigh of content at her closeness. So... she really didn't think it was stupid? The very thought made him smile. And he wished this feeling of inner peace would last his entire lifetime.

* * *

Meanwhile behind a discreetly hidden genjutsu'd bush, (curtsey of Kurenai-sensei) half of Konoha's ninja population waited on bated breath.

"Oh my _god!_ The suspense is killing me!" exclaimed Ino dramatically as she tried to peer at the couple from their hiding place.

"Hai," agreed Sai as he frantically jotted down notes in his book.

"You two do realize we are just following them to make sure nothing _bad _happens, right?" stressed Sakura clearly annoyed. "They still deserve a little privacy!"

"Oh, please! You're just as curious as we are forehead!" snapped Ino back at Sakura.

"Watch it Ino-pig or I'm gonna-!" she growled advancing on the long-haired blond.

"Ladies, ladies!" called Choji as he got between the two in order to calm the tension. "Remember why we're here-"

"And just _why_ are we all here exactly?" asked Tenten with a tired huff. "I think we should just let them be-"

"No way!" exclaimed Kiba as Akamaru growled menacingly next to him. "I want to know if he starts making any dirty moves on Hinata. She's not ready for that kind of level yet!"

"Hai," agreed Shino in the shadows, "She is our most valued teammate and friend. It is because of this that- "

"Hey, now!" interrupted Lee hotheadedly. "That is most unfair of you to automatically judge Naruto's intentions to be impure! They are both simply enjoying their springtime of youth and-"

"Oh dear god, if I have to hear about the 'springtime of youth' one more time I'm going to send you flying leotard boy," grumbled Temari as she tried to hold off a headache. "Damn it Shikamaru, why did you have to be bring me here?"

"Me?!" asked Shikamaru incredulously, "_**You're **_the one who insisted I bring you to this troublesome thing!"

"Would all of you kids please can it," mumbled Kakashi next to Sai. "We can't make out anything because of all your insensate whining!"

"They are currently not speaking of anything of great importance," stated Shino with complete certainty. "How do I know this? That is because-"

"Shino _bugged _Hinata before she left," laughed Kiba as he cut off the Bug-user for the millionth time.

"WHAT?!" yelled both Ino and Sakura as they pounced upon Shino demanding to know what the hell was going on.

"Uh... Kakashi?" asked Kurenai as she sweatdropped at the scene. "Shouldn't we do something to break this get-together up?"

"Hell's no," replied the peeping hokage, "Gai and I have too much riding on this! I'm not letting him get ahead of me in our Rivalry Battle just because Naruto doesn't know what to do with his dick."

"Uh... _okay_," Kurenai answered uncertainly as her sweatdrop simply doubled in size.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata then walked by one of Konoha's waterfalls.

"Oh! Would you look at that!" gasped Hinata as she took in the sight. The entire thing appeared to be frozen solid, do to the deep freeze the night before. A few spotlights that had been installed lit up the crystallize fixture with dazzling colors to make quite the enchanting scene.

"Yeah, it sure is..." whispered Naruto not even paying attention to the display. His eyes were far more entranced by Hinata herself.

"You know what?" she questioned with a breathless gasp. "Come on."

Hinata pulled on Naruto's hand and brought him to the edge of the ice. She giggled for a moment and then reached down to take off her shoes.

"Hinata! What on earth are you doing? You could get frostbite!" exclaimed Naruto as he snapped out of his daze.

"Oh hush," she scolded while gliding out across the ice. "I've done this tons of times before. My chakra will keep that from happening."

"Now come on," Hinata encouraged with a breathless tone, "trust me."

"Always," sighed Naruto as he then readily followed her lead.

"Okay, so this is just like walking on water," she explained excitedly. "Except instead of exerting chakra to keep yourself up, you use it to propel yourself forward."

"Uh... Hinata," confessed Naruto nervously. "Even after all these years... I honestly don't think my control's good enough to do something this precise on the fly."

"Oh, it's okay," she said confidently, "I've done this a couple of times with Kiba and Shino. All you have to do is use the same amount you usually would to walk on water and I'll push us both until you get the hang of it."

"A-Alright," stuttered Naruto as he awkwardly placed one hand on Hinata's hip and the other in her right hand. "Is this okay?"

It was at that moment, Hinata suddenly realized just how bold she was acting and where precisely Naruto had placed his hands.

"H-Hai," she answered back just as nervously, a crimson blush once again adoring her face. And with a deep breath, Hinata drew together all her courage and pushed off.

The two started out slow, but it wasn't very long until Naruto started to feel secure. They spun and twirled around, laughing merrily as they went. Naruto slipped and fell a few times, but with a lighthearted laugh Hinata would help him back onto his feet and the pair would start up gain. Across the ice covered river they swirled and glided under the twinkling lights of the night sky. The brisk winter air transformed their warm breath into ethereal trails of mist that dance along with them across the illuminated ice. Faster and faster they both went until finally Naruto's spectacular wipeout took Hinata down as well. The two laughed and brushed the frost and dirt out of each others hair.

Naruto then dusted off his pants and offered her a hand up. She gladly took it. Hinata stared loving into Naruto's eyes for a breathless minute as she regained her footing. The pair then stood there, staring at one another. Both rather unsure of how to proceed.

"So..." said Naruto bashfully after awhile.

"Ah- well-" they then awkwardly said at the same time. The couple snickered at their antics and turned toward the waterfall.

"You know," confessed Hinata as she stared at the frozen wonder, "I've always loved waterfalls. In fact, not long after we learned to walk on water, I used to dance across the surface and manipulate the particles to increase my chakra control."

"Oh, oh really?" croaked Naruto as felt a little blood seep from his nose as he once again pictured Hinata naked. He quickly reached up and pinched it, desperately trying to stop the flow.

Hinata turned and raised a curious eyebrow at his reaction, "Naruto-kun? What's wrong? A-are you alright?"

"W-What?! Oh yeah. Fine, _totally_ fine," he frantically nodded and waved off her concern.

She frowned a bit, wondering what had gotten him so worked up. But after a moment she shrugged it off and turned back toward waterfall.

Naruto let out a sigh of complete and utter relief.

"_Crises averted,"_ thought Naruto as he once regained control over his stupid hormones.

"You know... seeing this place reminds me a little bit of that lake we camped out next to on the moon..." whispered Hinata in remembrance.

"You mean the one with those glowing butterflies?" asked Naruto. "Yeah... I guess it was pretty, but I was _kinda_ distracted at the time so I really hadn't noticed."

Naruto looked pointedly at Hinata when he said this, making her blush bashfully in return.

"I kinda wish I had collected a few of them," admitted Hinata sadly. "Shino would have loved them."

It was then that Naruto noticed something small resting on Hinata's shoulder.

"Huh, that's odd," said Naruto as he pointed at the tiny creature. "Speaking of bugs, there's one on your shoulder. I would have thought it'd be way too cold for it out here."

"What?" asked Hinata startled. She then glanced down at her tiny companion.

"Oh no," the dark-haired woman groaned once she got a good look. "It's a ladybug."

"Really? What's wrong with that?" questioned Naruto as Hinata coaxed the insect to crawl onto the tip of her finger.

"_**Shino**_ is the problem, this is one of his bugs," she grumbled clearly annoyed.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Naruto as he reared back in shock. "How can you tell?"

"Because it's the kind he always uses to track me on missions," explained Hinata as she stared at the little lady.

"Well... at least that proves Shino has a little bit taste. I think it suits you quite well," confessed Naruto as he moved closer to Hinata's side.

"I suppose..." she said, glaring one last time at the insect, "Now Naruto, make a wish."

"Oh, I've got the perfect one," cackled Naruto menacingly. "Buzz off!"

And with that the two blew on the offending bug and it flew away.

* * *

"I have failed," declared Shino as he dejectedly stood away from the rest of the group with dark shame lines coming off of him.

"Aw... don't be like that buddy," comforted Kiba with a sweatdrop. "At least you tried." Akamaru barked in agreement as well.

"Now, what do we do?" inquired Ino with a sigh of defeat as Sai closed his notebook with a sharp snap.

"Simple," answered the dark-haired man confidently. "We just reconvene at the barbeque restaurant where I have already set up surveillance equipment at their reserved table."

"SAI!" gasped Ino dramatically and kissed him full on the mouth. "You're a genius as well as an amazing lover! Come on everybody, it's stalking time!"

"Ugh..." groaned Sakura as she ran to keep up with the rest of the group. "Why do I get the feeling we're going to end up _causing _more problems than preventing tonight?"

"Because you most likely _are_," a snide voice answered from the tree next to her.

"No one," growled Sakura as she punched it with all her might, "asked _you!_"

The unsuspecting tree burst into splinters and snow as Sasuke toppled out and fell flat on his face.

"And you say _I _have anger issues!" growled the last Uchiha angrily at the medical ninja's quickly retreating back.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Well there's Part 1 for you folks! There were so many great moments and with all the others I still have planned I felt posting the whole thing as one chapter would have been way too much. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. I'm actually quite proud of these romantic scenes. I think they turned out well.

Part 2 coming soon coming next Friday!

**Please remember to read, fav, and review!**


	9. The Date! (Part 2)

**Disclaimer:** Dude, does it look like I own the rights to japanese tv show/manga? If so, then why the hell am I writing fanfiction?

Anyway "Myzticmoon" asked a question about which scene in the movie or anime did I consider to be Naruto and Hinata's first canon meeting. I think both the summer and winter events should be considered canon. I believe the winter one with the scarf was the first time Naruto saved Hinata from those bullies, and the whole thing with Ko just happened later that same year in summer. So they are both canon, the movie scene just happened first.

Well that's all from me, now onto Part 2!

* * *

~The Date! (Part 2)~

* * *

"7:30, right on time," announced Naruto as they reached the doors of the establishment.

"After you, my lady," he cockily said, opening it wide for Hinata with a sweeping bow.

Hinata breathlessly laughed into her hand, "Well thank you kind, sir," and gave him a wink as she walked in.

Naruto quickly hurried in after and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Table for two for Uzumaki_,_" he confidently stated to the hostess.

"Of course," she politely replied and pulled out two menus. "Right this way."

The couple followed the woman to a secluded booth located at the far back of restaurant.

Naruto unwrapped his arm around Hinata's shoulders and motioned for her to go in first.

Instead of taking the seat directly across from his girlfriend, Naruto decided to scoot in right next to her.

This caused Hinata to shyly blush, having never seen Naruto actively go out of his way to be so close to her before. The blonde in turn also became a little red as he realized he may have embarrassed Hinata with his silly like actions.

The hostess tried her best to cover the amused grin stretching across her face with the menus.

* * *

Meanwhile as the young couple was distracted, the rest of the Konoha 12 (minus Sasuke and the pair of course) tumbled into the restaurant and quickly took a seat at one of the empty booths at the front. They all quickly grabbed a pile of menus and tried to act as _naturally_ as possible.

Needless to say, the rag tag group stuck out worse than a soar thumb.

Kurenai-sensei dramatically sighed as she thought, _"Honestly, am I the only one in this whole village that __**actually**__ acts like a real ninja?" _And with that, she cast a camouflage genjutsu over the group so they would simply appear to be a bunch of random strangers.

* * *

"So!" the hostess then said in an effort to once again gain the pair's attention.

This momentarily startled the love birds as they both jumped away from each other in surprise.

The woman tried her best not to laugh as she placed the menus down in front of them.

"Your server will be with you in a moment," she said with a smile and quickly made her way back to the front, all while thinking to herself, _"Ah... young love."_

Naruto nervously fidgeted in his seat as he tried to think of what he should do next.

Hinata bashfully glanced away also uncertain of how to proceed. The dark-haired woman finally settled on picking up the menu and starting to read.

"_Oh yeah! Food, ordering, duh!" _thought Naruto as he resisted the urge to smack himself and simply picked up the menu as well.

The blond looked skittishly around the restaurant, he was totally out of his element. The only place he'd ever really eaten out at was Ichiraku's Ramen. That is, until he went on his journey with Jiraiya-sensei. But even to this day, he still couldn't bring himself to eat in any other of Konoha's establishments. They all just brought back too many bad memories.

This thought made Naruto frown as a sad look entered his eyes. He stared vaguely at the menu, trying to remember what Choji had told him was good. But the man just couldn't concentrate. It was like, he was suddenly back to being that lonely unwanted child again.

"N-Naruto-kun?" questioned Hinata hesitatingly as she felt him tense beside her. "Are you alright?"

"H-Hai," answered Naruto with a bit of an uncertain stutter, "I just... I don't know. Feel kinda _odd_ eating here when... well-"

The blond didn't even have to finish. Hinata simply reached out and lovingly grasped Naruto's real hand.

"I understand," she said sincerely, staring into his bright blue eyes, "It reminds you back to _that time, _doesn't it? We can leave if you want. Honestly Naruto-kun, I've never minded eating at Ichiraku's. I've always loved spending time with you there."

"I- Hinata..." whispered Naruto deeply touched by her words, "I- no, it's fine. That was a long time ago and the village has changed. I shouldn't let my past affect my choices now."

Naruto then gave her hand a little squeeze of assurance before letting go. "But thank you for saying so... That means a lot to me..." he said trailing off and then decided to try and hide his blush behind the menu.

"You're welcome," replied Hinata sweetly as she too, nervously glanced back down at her menu.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the surveillance table, Kurenai was positively gushing over the electronic speaker they were all listening to.

"Oh! It's everything I had always hoped it would be!" she declared excitedly. "They are both so completely adorable."

"More like vomit inducing," Kakashi commented with a glare. "Didn't Jiraiya-sensei teach you anything, Naruto? I swear you're worse at romance than Minato-sensei!"

"Hey," countered Kurenai angrily, "Just because they aren't what you define as _'romantic'_ doesn't mean they are bad at it. They just function differently than you do!"

"Oh, this is so _**boring!**_" exhaled Ino frustratedly, "Make out already! Push her down into the booth, start nibbling her neck, rub her shoulders- just do _**something!**_"

"Ino-pig!" growled Sakura brandishing her fist again. "What did I say about all that earlier?!"

"I'm with Ino," agreed Kakashi with a bit of a pout. "At this rate, I'm totally going to lose my bet with Gai. Those two move slower than Tsunade's slugs."

"Wait a second," said Kurenai looking confused. "I thought that before you had bet that it would take _drastic measures_ to get those two together. So why did you now bet they were going to suddenly sleep together on their first date?"

"Because I _**lost**_ the last time," grunted the ex-copy ninja. "I thought now that Naruto was in love, his perverted instincts would have kicked in!"

"I thought you said that your _hunches_ were rarely ever wrong?" asked Shikamaru with a condescending smirk.

"Hunches? Yes," replied Kakashi with a defeated air, "Bets lately... have been a different matter entirely."

Choji put some beef on the sizzling grill as he teased, "Sounds to me like Tsunade-sama's luck with gambling may have been passed on to you now that you're Hokage."

"Wait, _**what?**_" asked Kakashi in horror as he realized that the boy just might be right.

"Choji!" exclaimed Temari in surprise. "Where the heck did you even get that?!"

"From the kitchen," answered Choji with a confused blink. "What? I was _hungry!_"

Kurenai simply tried her best to contain her laughter in her hand as she thought, _"Oh just wait until I tell Tsunade, Iruka, and Gai! They are going to have a field day with this!"_

* * *

"So... since I've um... never been here before," said Naruto warily as his eyes skimmed over the menu. "W-Why don't you order for us both, Hinata?"

The dark-haired woman looked at him surprised, "A-Are you sure Naruto?"

"Yeah, why not?" decided the blond as he placed his menu down. "I'd like to find out more about what other kinds of food are out there."

"Well... alright, if you're sure," answered Hinata hesitantly as the waiter returned with their drinks. She then told him their order finishing with, "Oh! And if you could add a miso glaze to the pork and the beef that would be wonderful! Thank you."

She then turned back to Naruto shyly as she caught him staring at her.

"I-uh... you really do look pretty Hinata-chan," admitted the blond awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

"A-arigato," she thanked him softly while unconsciously starting to play with her fingers.

"So..." they both said at the same time again, making two of them giggle.

Naruto recovered first and asked, "What other stuff do you like to eat?"

"You know, besides ramen," he added on with a teasing grin.

"Oh! Yes, well..." said Hinata as she put her index finger up to her chin in thought. "I like lots of things. Red bean buns... cinnamon rolls..."

"Cinnamon rolls?" inquired Naruto with a sly foxy grin.

"Cinnamon rolls are warm and gooey," she explained with a gentle laugh, "They are fun to pull apart and dip back into the icing. And back when I was a child, they were the only time tou-chan would let Hanabi and I make a mess!"

"Really?" asked Naruto incredulously.

"Hai," she replied happily, "I used to make them with my mother. It's one of my fondest memories of her."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, Naruto," reassured Hinata quickly, "I enjoy talking about her now. I try my best to hang onto all of the good times as much as I can. I miss her... but I still love to remember her..."

"Hai," agreed Naruto as he smiled remembering the few precious moments he had with his own.

"So you making a mess, huh?" he teased lightly. "I find that hard to believe."

"I-well-" said Hinata with a light blush, "It wasn't a large mess I mean-"

"I know, I was only joking," Naruto explained to her with a smile. "I... think it's really sweet."

This just made poor Hinata turn all the redder.

"I've also noticed that you really like to make things with your hands, why is that?" asked the blond with genuine interest.

"Well since everything is made or done for me at the household," admitted Hinata readily. "I like to do as much as I can for myself."

"Huh," said Naruto as he listened with a smile.

"I find it relaxing to bake or create. Giving the people I care about something that really came from... _me, _I just love doesn't seem _**personal**_ to me if I just buy it from ahigh priced store. Hanabi says it's silly but... that's just my way of looking at it," the dark-haired woman concluded with a small shrug.

"I think that's wonderful, Hinata," Naruto said with a heartfelt sigh. "I love when this side of you comes out."

"Side?" asked Hinata, confused at what exactly he was referring to.

"When your shyness finally slips away and I can really see who you are as a person," whispered Naruto with a goofy love drunk grin.

The two then simply sat there for a long moment staring into each others eyes.

And just as they had moved to lean in for a kiss.

"Alright, here's you order!" said the waiter as he placed a plate of raw vegetables and food on the table.

"NO!" screamed Ino as she stood up at table in the front. "Not now, Damn you!"

The others were quick to grab her and push her back under the genjutsu barrier.

This made the waiter glance to the front of the restaurant and comment, "Huh... that was odd."

Naruto and Hinata just gave each other a significant look, but said nothing as they helped arrange the food plates.

"Oh, yes. Please, right this way," said the hostess at the front as she escorted in a large party of people who had just arrived.

The massive group was then seated right in front of Naruto's table, completely blocking the view of the irate stalkers.

* * *

"Damn it," said Sai annoyed at himself. "I knew I should have set up cameras as well."

"Well why didn't you!" exclaimed Ino as she gave his arm a smack. "Now we can't see a dang thing!"

"Come on beautiful, you know how expensive that equipment is," replied Sai calmly. "I was trying to save money for _our _date next week."

"Oh, really?" chirped Ino happily as her eyes lit up in excitement. "Then you are forgiven! Where are we-"

"Back to the matter at hand," interrupted Kiba as he tried to see around the crowd. "Our view is still blocked. And right now that perv could be doing _anything_ to Hinata!"

"I could attempt to send in another surveillance bug," suggested Shino, "but since Naruto is now aware of it, he shall be more observant."

"Well we still have sound, so there really wouldn't be much point," added in Sakura.

"Yeah, but there's not much we can tell from that because they're going to _eat_ now," grumbled Ino annoyed.

"Hai, it is rather disappointing," agreed Lee as his eyebrows sadly drooped.

"Ain't that the truth," commented Tenten along with a nod.

"You know what!" exclaimed Temari as she snapped her fingers with an idea. "We've been meaning to try this out."

The blond then reached into her pocket and pulled out a complex looking walkie talkie.

"Come in 'Great Tanuki!' Come in 'Great Tanuki!' This is 'Kagura's Blades,' I've got a favor to ask of you..."

* * *

"Here you go, Naruto," said Hinata as she held up a freshly grilled piece of beef, green onion, and mushroom with her chopsticks for Naruto to take a bite.

The blond opened his mouth and eagerly accepted Hinata's offering.

"Hmm... HMM! Oh my gosh! Hinata-chan! That almost tasted _exactly_ like ramen, except without the noodles!" gasped Naruto in complete shock.

This made Hinata laugh breathlessly into her hand.

"Well all those ingredients are found in ramen, Naruto-kun," she explained sweetly. "I thought starting off with something familiar would be a good way to ease you into trying something different. So do you like it?"

"Like it? I _**love**_ it Hinata-chan!" exclaimed the blond as he started piling the raw elements onto the grill to make more. "Thank you so much!"

Hinata simply blushed a little and replied, "You're welcome."

Naruto then made up a little batch and held it up with his chopsticks for Hinata, "Here you go, your turn."

Hinata giggled as she opened her small delicate mouth and took a big bite.

"Mmmm!" exclaimed the dark-haired woman happily as she covered a hand over her lips and swallowed. "It is really good!"

"Pork cheeks and tripe, compliments from the Akimichi clan," said the waiter as he swung by their table again.

"Really? Wow! Thanks!" declared Naruto as he set more of the food onto the grill while Hinata nodded her head and agreed, "Indeed, Arigato!"

The two love birds were so busy that they failed to notice the creepy sand eyeball that had just floated up behind them.

A few moments later, a certain fox demon decided to once again make his presence known.

"_**Hey, Naruto,"**_ Kurama growled in his head, _**"Cut the lovey-dovey crap and bed your vixen already!"**_

"_Fox-teme! Stop talking about her like that or I swear-"_

"_**Yeah, yeah whatever..." **_grumbled the ninetails. _**"But seriously, I'm bored to tears here. The poor kids watching through Gaara's eyeball probably are too."**_

"_They're what?"_thought Naruto threateningly as he just caught the sand eyeball ducking behind his seat out of the corner of his eye.

"_Thanks for the warning Kurama,"_ thought Naruto as he glared back over his shoulder.

"_**No prob, welp back to my vacation,"**_ replied Kurama with an evil laugh.

"Naruto, is something wrong?" whispered Hinata as she saw the blond tense-up.

"Nawh, just kinda getting _**annoyed**_-" said Naruto as he violently jabbed his chopsticks into the floating eyeball as it tried to peak around his shoulder. "At our rather, _**unwelcomed **_audience."

* * *

Back in the sand village, Gaara irritatedly rubbed at his eye socket and exclaimed, "Damn it, why does everyone do that!"

* * *

"We lost 'Great Tanuki,'" confirmed Temari as she hung her head in shame. With a sigh of defeat she answered back, "Thanks though, little brother," and shut off the walkie talkie.

The rest of the group let out a defeated groan.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," insisted Shikamaru, "it was a good plan."

"Really?" asked Temari with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

"Of course," he reaffirmed, "you're a very intelligent woman."

The rest of the group froze and slowly turned toward the pair.

"I- uh-" stammered Shikamaru momentary as he realized what he had just said, "you know- that is-"

"Yeah, yeah I know what you meant," brushed off Temari with a wave, but the all encompassing grin stretching across her face said otherwise.

"G-Good, good," croaked the Shadow-user as he cleared his throat. "Glad we cleared that up..."

"_Right..."_ thought everyone else, as they continued looking at the pair with attentive stares.

"What the hell are you all staring at?!" snapped Shikamaru as Temari's perceptive gaze remained solely trained on him.

The rest of the group immediately turned away and miserably attempted to appear ignorant of what had just occurred.

* * *

Hinata sighed and took another bite of their food. She and Naruto had been aware from the very beginning of their nosy entourage. I mean _really,_ hide from a person who can sense Nature chakra and the other with the byakugan, _please. _

"They're just worried about us," stated Hinata diplomatically. "Try not to be too mad at them, Naruto."

"I know, I know," replied the blond as he popped another piece of food into his mouth. He then stretched out his left arm and wrapped it tightly around Hinata. He pulled her warm body lovingly close to his own. The dark-haired woman let out a sigh of contentment, and rested her head securely on his shoulder.

And so the two cuddled together like that until the check came.

* * *

As the pair left the the restaurant, Naruto was gradually getting more and more irritated. Every time he'd do or say something he'd hear a whispered _"Aw!"_ or a_"Gasp!" _

"Hmm..." Hinata commented as she looked at the sky. "It's become cloudy. We might actually be in for a little snow flurry tonight."

"Cool," replied Naruto as he still distractedly glance back over his shoulder, "maybe we can make some snow angels before I take you home."

"Oh that does sound fun," agreed Hinata as a hushed voice could be heard behind them commenting, _"Honestly Naruto, she can't do that. Her dress will be ruined!"_

And at that very moment, Naruto finally reached his limit. The man unwrapped his arm from around Hinata and bit hard into his thumb.

"Naruto, what are you-"

He slammed his hand on the ground and out popped a small orange toad.

"Yo! Oh- Hi, Naruto! What's up?"

"Hinata, I would like you to meet Gama-chan" introduced Naruto politely as he motioned toward the little toad. "She is Gamakichi's daughter."

"It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Hinata-chan," said the cute amphibian with a bow.

"Gama-chan?" asked Hinata with a confused blink.

"Hai," confirmed Gama with a sweatdrop, "What can I say? If you had a thousand or so kids every year you'd run out of names to call them too!"

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand," grumbled Naruto irately. "I want you to find wherever Sakura and the others are spying on our date from and tell them to piss-off! And if they don't take this warning seriously, I'm going to sic a freaking clone on them next time!"

"Wait..." said the little toad with big eyes as she turned to Hinata, "Are you _the _Hinata who declared her love for Naruto during the battle with Pain?! You helped save the Great Sage Toads from his wrath! Forgive me Hinata-sama! This truly _is_ an honor!" she finished with another bow.

This just made Naruto slap his forehead and Hinata's face turn crimson as she stuttered, "Y-You know about t-that!"

"Of course!" exclaimed Gama with a croak. "When Pain launched Shima away, she had not yet lost consciousness and overheard the whole thing! All the summoning toads know the legend of your heroic sacrifice. It's actually quite the popular tale among our female population."

Hinata let out a squeak of embarrassment as she brought her hands to her cheeks in shock.

"It was just _so _romantic!" gushed the little toad with stars of hope in her eyes. "So it's finally happened? You two are actually together now!"

"_Oh wait until I tell the others! They are all going to flip out!"_ Gama thought happily.

"H-Hai," answered Hinata with a mortified whisper.

"Grr... GAHH!" yelled Naruto as he grabbed his hair in frustration. "You know what? FORGET IT! I'll just deal with them! _YOU!_ Just -GO HOME!"

"But I-"

"I SAID GO HOME! _**POOF!**_ SCRAM!" demanded Naruto at the top of lungs as he shooed the little creature away.

"Alright, if you insist," Gama conceded with a small pout. "Nice to meet you once again, Hinata!"

And with that the little toad _Poofed!_ back to Mount Myōboku.

Naruto just let out a long laboring sigh and slumped defeatedly next to his date.

"I'm _so _sorry Hinata," he apologized sadly. "I never meant for this all to go so badly. "

"Naruto..." replied Hinata breathlessly as she wrapped her hands around his left arm. "I've had a wonderful time tonight. Nothing's been spoiled or ruined."

"Really?" the blond asked with a sad sniff.

"Really," comforted the dark-haired woman as she led them back onto the pathway so that they could continue their walk.

* * *

Meanwhile back behind the magical genjutsu bush.

"What the heck was that all about?" asked Sakura to Tenten and Ino.

The two girls just gave each other a look and shook their heads.

"Not a clue, seemed like Naruto was mad at something though," said Tenten worriedly.

"Well he'd better not get aggressive with Hinata!" growled Kiba threateningly as he punched his fist into his opened hand. "Or I'm going to over there and teach him a lesson!"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever, Kiba," replied Ino condescendingly with a roll of her eyes.

"Everyone," addressed Lee sagely, "I believe Naruto may be acting out because our efforts have not been as ..._beneficial_ as we had hoped."

This made everyone freeze for a moment in thought. Could Naruto actually be _**angry**_ at them?

"NAHH!" quickly dismissed everyone in the group, that was just a stupid idea.

"That's it!" suddenly declared Kakashi as he rose to his feet. "I've had enough of this! I am _not _turning into Tsunade-sama! And there's know way I hell I'm going to let Gai win this bet!"

And with that the Hokage took a vicious bite of his thumb and slammed it onto the ground.

"Hey, Kakashi, what's up?" asked Pakkun with his gravely voice.

"PAKKUN!" commanded Kakashi loudly. "Naruto is on his date."

The Sixth Hokage's eyes narrowed menacingly as he finished with, "You know what to do..."

Pakkun simply gave his master a salute with his paw and _POOF!_ He was gone.

* * *

Naruto gradually began to feel the tension and anger leave his body as they continued on their route.

He leaned his head against Hinata's and contently sighed. Naruto loved having her next to him. For the majority of his life, he had been starved for love. All he wanted for the rest of his days, was to hold Hinata forever. But would telling her that be too forward? She didn't seem to mind when they had been on the moon... but they _had _only juststarted dating. He really didn't want to scare her with all his issues and emotional baggage just yet...

But Naruto had a funny feeling that she already understood all that... in some ways better than he did.

It was then that the couple passed by the rebuilt Ninja Academy.

"Wow, would you look at that," said Hinata in awe as she stared at the illuminated building. "It's so... _big._"

"I know," agreed Naruto with a laugh, "It's nothing like the old place... honestly I kind of miss it."

"Really, Naruto?" asked Hinata in surprise. "Even with the way everyone used to treat you?"

"Yeah, well..." explained Naruto shyly. "It was were all of our friends got to know each other and grow up."

This made Hinata smile as she followed Naruto over to a large tree.

"And while most of my memories of the place weren't what I'd call... _pleasant,_" Naruto said with a sigh as he suddenly stopped and smiled. "There were some very special ones, that I still treasure to this day."

Hinata walked up behind him and smiled at the small swing hanging from the branch of the tree. The little board of suspended wood happily swayed back and forth in the breeze. Almost like it was welcoming them home.

"That reminds me of your old swing," commented Hinata as she leaned down and gently brushed off the snow covered seat. "You used to sit on it for hours."

"You... remember that?" inquired Naruto softly.

Hinata nodded in confirmation and said, "Hai, there were so many times I'd watch you... lonely swinging back and forth... and I'd try so very hard, to work up the courage to speak to you."

Tears began to fill her gentle eyes as she finished, "...to let you know that you weren't alone," with a hushed whisper.

"Hinata, oh please don't cry. I hadn't meant to make you sad," protested Naruto as he wrapped his strong arms protectively around her.

"But if I had only-"

"No," he whispered and gently place a kiss against her soft hair. "I was the fool who didn't notice that you were hurting just as much as I was. If only I weren't so-"

"Wait, please don't," interrupted Hinata as she pushed away from his chest a little so she could look him in the eye. "We need to stop this. The past is in the past. Besides, we can make all the happy memories that we want _now_, right?"

"Hai," agreed Naruto with a smile as he nervously released Hinata from his embrace. "So... would you like a ride?"

"Huh?" questioned Hinata confused.

"On my swing!" exclaimed the blond as he gestured at the object. "Well technically this isn't the _same _swing. And really it was never _mine _to begin with. But still... I always kinda wanted to share it with someone! So do you want to?"

Naruto looked every bit like his ten-year-old self again in that moment. His bright blue eyes begging her to play with him.

It made Hinata breathlessly giggle at his antics. She loved these rare times when Naruto's inner-child would pop-up out of nowhere and have a little fun. It'd remind her all over again why she fell in love with Naruto.

"I'd love to," she said with a smile. Naruto extended his hand to her. Hinata gently took it. He then led her to the seat of the swing. She sat down on the small wooden board and looked lovingly back up at Naruto.

He then quickly slipped behind her and asked, "Ready?"

Hinata raised her legs and nodded. The blond then gave her a big push and off she went! They laughed merrily in the cold night air as pure white snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. The two were so thoroughly enjoying the moment that neither of them noticed that they were no longer alone.

It took the music finally reaching their ears to give the pair pause.

"What the hell?" asked Naruto as Hinata skidded the swing to a stop with a startled, "What?"

One of Kakashi-sensei's ninken sat a few feet away dressed in a barbershop quartet outfit singing, "Bow-wow- wow. Bow-wow-wow."

Naruto and Hinata glanced at each other in confusion as two more ninken suddenly appeared and started to howl right along with the first.

It was then that the rest of the canine ensemble burst into existence, all wearing their barbershop outfits and started 'singing' in harmony.

Naruto felt his eye begin to nervously twitch just as Akamaru decided to pop up from behind the genjutsu'd bush and join in.

"OwWOOO!" he howled.

"Get back down here you crazy mutt!" growled Kiba as he reached up and pulled the dog back under cover.

Both Hinata and Naruto sweatdropped seeing this and had the exact same thought of, _"Ehh... what the heck is going on?!"_

A spotlight then burst to life and shined down on Pakkun, who was now standing in the middle of the barbershop group with a top hat and cane.

"Aaaand now my dddear Hin-ata we would to ask youuuu!" sang Pakkun gratingly off-key as Naruto and Hinata shared a look of _**"WTF?!"**_

"Ooon... behalf of Nar-utoooo... if youuu... would like tooooo!" continued Pakkun completely undeterred.

The dog suddenly tapped his cane on the ground and started thrusting his hips back and forth. Pakkun then passionately sang, "To be my lover, baby! You wanna be my l-over?" in his gravelly smoker voice.

***BAM!***

Pakkun went flying though the air and twinkled out of existence.

Naruto breathed heavily as he cracked his knuckles. He then advanced on the rest of the cowering ninkens.

"ANYBODY ELSE WANT TO SCREW WITH ME TONIGHT?" yelled the enraged blond with an inferno burning in his eyes.

"Amateurs! You ready, Pa?" called out an elderly voice.

"Ready, Ma!" confirmed the other in return.

An odd sound then seemed to ripple across the landscape. Suddenly, Naruto and Hinata found themselves floating in a rowboat in the middle of a lake in springtime.

"Oh, _no!_" groaned Naruto, immediately figuring out what was happening. "Fukasaku and Shima must be here. When the Great Toad Sages sing in harmony they create a really strong genjutsu. There's no way we can break this!"

The blond then started banging his head on the side of the wooden boat as Hinata tried to comfort him, "Oh, Naruto..."

"Now _this_ is how you set the mood!" declared a familiar voice from off to the side.

Naruto instantly saw red. "_**Gamakichi!**_ You freaking traitor! When I find you, I'm gonna kick your wart covered ass!" yelled Naruto, shaking his fist at his friend hiding in cattails at the lake's edge.

"La-la-la-la-la-la!" sang the toads along the shallows. "Me-oh-my!"

"WHY?" lamented Naruto to the heavens as Hinata shook her head next to him.

"Awww! Looks like dee guy is shy! He ain't gonna kiss dee girl!" sang Gama from atop her father's head.

"I'M _**NOT **_FREAKING SHY!" roared Naruto as he stood up in the boat, nearly causing it to flip. "I'LL KISS HER WHEN I WANNA KISS HER! THIS IS _**MY**_ DATE, DAMN IT!"

Hinata squeaked as she almost fell in, "Eek! Naruto!"

"Sorry..." he quickly apologized, but unfortunately the toads simply continued with their big musical number.

"Whoa-whoa! La-la-la-la-la-la!" they merrily croaked while jumping along with the music. "Dude, don't bee scared! Dee mood's all prepared! Come on and kiss dee girl!"

A crow then decided to swoop down and screech, "CAW-CAW-CA-WAAA!"

"Kiss dee girl!" stressed the animals. Some started making pucker noises while others swam around the boat, spitting water out of their mouths like a display fountain.

"GO THE HELL AWAY!" screamed Naruto as he frantically swung his arms around trying to catch and strangle the stupid summons creatures. Gama-chan managed to hop up and land on Naruto's spiky blond head. She simply laughed from her perch and watched as Naruto tried to catch the others.

This made Hinata breathlessly giggle into her hand again.

It was then that the remaining ninkens and several of the ninja stalkers came out of hiding and started singing along from the lake's shore.

"TRAITORS!" Naruto roared as he waved his arms furiously at them.

"Whoa-whoa! La-la-la-la-la-la! Hey now, don't take all day. What do dee music say? You gotta kiss dee girl!" proclaimed the entire starry-eyed group. The toads then started to swim closer while still trying to avoid Naruto's reach.

"Kiss dee girl!" everyone sang in anticipation.

The blond then let out a defeated sigh and turned toward Hinata with a forlorn glance.

Hinata simply reached up and took little Gama-chan off his head.

"Kiss dee girl!" encouraged the toads eagerly as the couple looked at one another, "Kiss dee girl..." Naruto and Hinata started to lean in and- "KISS DEE-"

***POOOOOF!***

"WHOA-WHOA" bellowed Gamabunta as he violently burst into existence thereby expelling Fukasaku and Shima's genjutsu. Toads, smoke, and snow went flying everywhere.

"Damn it, Boss!" berated Gamakichi. "We almost had them!"

"WHAT? I THOUGHT THAT WAS MY CUE TO COME IN!" he yelled back at his spawn. "HEY WAIT A SECOND, NARUTO YOU'RE OVER TWENTY NOW, RIGHT?!"

The blond had actually just dug himself and Hinata out of the snowdrift when the mammoth toad asked.

"Yeah? _Why?_" he called back at the giant while offering Hinata a hand to help her up.

"THEN WHERE'S THE SAKE YOU PROMISED ME AS A KID YOU LITTLE RUNT?!" demanded the Toad Boss angrily as he glared down at the couple.

"I-I! Um...!" stuttered Naruto in terror as he tried to push Hinata protectively behind him. "I kinda... sorta... _**maybe**_ forgot about that?"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Gamabunta in shock, "YOU GAVE ME YOUR-"

"**ENOUGH!"** yelled Naruto at the top of his lungs, having finally come to the very end of his patience. A familiar spinning blue orb appeared in his hand as he called out, _**"RASEN-"**_

But before he could finish his attack, a pink and red figure suddenly burst onto the scene.

"CHAAA!" screamed Sakura as she launched herself into the air. The pink-haired kunoichi then wound up and _**punched**_ the enormous toad right between the eyes.

And with that one massive blow, Gamabunta POOFED! back out of existence sending toads, ninja stalkers, and ninken alike literally _**flying **_through the snowy winter sky.

"Ahh! We're blasting off again!" cried Kakashi, Temari, Kurenai, and the rest of the Konoh_a 12 as they wheezed by. _

All the summon animals launched into the air and exploded with a PHEW! and a POOF! It was quite the demented firework show. The whole affair was rather bizarre to behold.

Naruto instantly used the distraction to his advantage. He grabbed Hinata's hands, held them to his chest, and asked, "Hinata-chan, do you trust me?"

"I-What?" she said still reeling in shock from all the randomness.

"Do you _trust_ me?" inquired the blond with pleading eyes.

"Always," answered back Hinata with all the love in her heart.

Her steadfast reply made him smile.

"Then follow me," Naruto said with confidence.

And with that, the young couple quickly ran off and escaped into the night.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

**Author's Notes: **_*Mists looks back at her Icha Icha Tea joke from the disclaimer of chapter 6*_

Huh...

_*Clicks pen and writes on piece of paper*_

Note to self, change that side effect to 'common.' Anywhoo! _*Throws paper away*_

Another chapter down. That took me forever to edit but I think I finally got the whole crazy thing to flow well.

Anyway, next time the romantic climax!

_*Ino looks at Mists expectantly with stars in her eyes*_

Ew! No, not that kind of climax, Ino! Anyway, all this and more, next time!

Oh, and on my profile I added a whole lot of my fav Naruto/Hinata AMV links along with some others from You Tube. So feel free to check them out if you have free time.

**And please remember to read, fav, and review! I love hearing from you guys! **


	10. The Date! (Part 3): Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **No actual summon creatures were harmed in the creation of this fic. Though, a few ninja might have been. LOL!

Now several of you have asked, Mists? What are you on after reading the last chapter... _*Mists hides her bottle of tequila with the hallucinogenic worm in it*_ Nothing! Nothing at all. ;)

Oh, and sorry Myzticmoon it won't be the Hokage monument, I already used that in 'Vessel of Love' so I went with a new location. I always strive to do something different. Hehehe! You'll see.

It's romance time everybody! Now on with the fic!

* * *

~The Date! (Part 3)~

* * *

Several hours later, Sakura was still on a warpath though the village searching for the pair.

All the others had long since returned home.

"You aren't going to find them, Sakura," said Sasuke as he calmly followed behind her.

"And how would you know that?" she inquired with a snap.

"Because I know where they went," he finally revealed in a huff to Sakura's back.

The pink-haired woman paused for a moment and then whipped her head around to glare at Sasuke.

"Well why didn't you tell me earlier?" she irritatedly asked, "Come on! Let's get going!"

Sakura motioned for Sasuke to take the lead, but the last Uchiha simply remained where he stood.

"No," he stated coldly.

"What do you mean 'no?'" questioned Sakura as she angrily placed her hands onto her hips.

"They left because they want to be alone," explained Sasuke calmly. "And as their friend you should respect their wishes."

Sakura just snorted at his answer and waved him off saying, "Yeah, whatever."

Sasuke simply glared at her and asked, "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Sakura placed her right hand over her heart in shock.

"With, _me?_" she questioned back.

"Yes, you," Sasuke insisted. "You're obsessed with their relationship."

"What on _earth_ are you talking about?" Sakura inquired to Sasuke with wide eyes.

Sasuke simply glared back at her. He wasn't going to play this game.

"I-" said the pink-haired woman as she took a step back in surprise, "I'm not. I just want them to be happy."

"Again, why?" asked Sasuke clearly determined to find the answer.

It was then that Sakura finally snapped, "Because one of us deserves to be, damn it!"

The medical kunoichi quickly slapped a hand over her mouth the second she said it.

"I... see," answered Sasuke as he took in this information.

After a few moments of silence, Sakura removed her hand with a sigh, "I just- want them to be happy. The two of them together is just so _right_. They were pretty much made for each other. Naruto's very special to me, he's like the brother I never had... and Hinata is the most amazing person I know. If anyone deserves to find love, it's those two. "

The pair stood there for a while, staring at one another.

Until Sasuke surprisingly said, "You... have a very big heart."

Sakura's stunned green eyes went wide as she stammered out, "E-Excuse me?"

"But Naruto and Hinata aren't the only ones who deserve to find happiness, Sakura," stated Sasuke, his eyes remaining completely focused on her.

"W-What are you-"

"You could have had any other man," said Sasuke in his logical tone. "I'm sure you've had many offers over the years-"

"Sasuke-"

"So why?" demanded the last Uchiha, his voice becoming a bit rough as he slowly approached Sakura's unmoving form, "Out of all those men, why me?"

Sakura could barely will herself to breathe as she gathered enough strength to whisper, "Because... I love _you._ No one else. There will _**never **_be anyone else. I love you, _**only**_ you. From now, until the day I die."

"I... Sakura," replied Sasuke in a hushed tone. He was deeply moved by her words. "There's something I've been meaning to speak to you about."

"Okay..." she answered skeptically with narrowed eyes, "Go ahead."

"Earlier, before Naruto went on his date, he and I had a talk..." Sasuke trailed off, unsure of how he should put this.

Sakura simply stayed silent and allowed him to continue.

The last Uchiha took a deep breath and said, "I feel I have finally come to the point where, I want to _try._"

"Try?" asked Sakura confused, "Try, _what _exactly?"

"Us," he clearly stated and then let out an uncertain sigh, "Again, or... for the first time. Look, you know what I mean..."

"W-What?" stuttered Sakura in disbelief. Was he actually being serious?

"Sakura, don't make me say it again," said Sasuke gruffly. "This is hard enough for me already."

"You... want to _**try**__,_" whispered Sakura in awe, having never truly believed the day would finally come.

"Hai," confirmed Sasuke as he closed the last remaining gap let between them. He then reached out and gently placed his hand against her cheek.

"Sakura, I am an empty shell of a man," confessed Sasuke truthfully. "I have nothing to offer you. I am cold and I am broken. I know that if we start a relationship it won't be easy, for either of us. I'm still trying to find my way back to the person I was, or... maybe the person I am _now_. We will fight, and I will most likely end up hurting you..."

Here Sasuke trailed off for a moment as he got lost in her wide, hope filled eyes.

"But, yes," he finally concluded, "I'm ready to try... that is- only if you wish to as well."

He waited for a moment as Sakura physically shook herself out of her stupor. Had the time, really, truly come?

A wry grin slid across her face as she reached up and gave his forehead a quick flick.

"Ow! What-" exclaimed Sasuke startled by her actions. Sakura then grabbed a fistful of his shirt, gruffly pulled him close, and planted a sweet kiss upon his forehead.

Sasuke simply blinked back at her in surprise.

She then rested her head against his chest and answered, "Hai, but did you really have to ask?"

This made Sasuke let out a sigh of contentment, it was unlike any other feeling he had ever experienced before. He then wrapped his one arm around her and grumbled, "Guess not," as the first genuine smile graced his lips in decades.

* * *

"Naruto... what is this place?" asked Hinata as she took in their new surroundings.

"Well..." replied the blond as he scratched the back of his head nervously, "Remember when I mentioned earlier about that place I wanted to plant the flowers? This is it."

Hinata's feet crunched across the snow covered ground, leaving a path of footprints in her wake. She analyzed the structure and deduced that the broken, decaying ruins before her had once been of a lavish and expensive estate.

Curiosity drove the dark-haired woman to investigate further. Nature had completely enveloped the hollow dwelling. Dead, gnarled vines had twisted their way through the wreckage. Through the snow cover, you could still make out tuffs of overgrown grass. Sliding doors hung off their hinges. Parts of the roof were torn away, leaving gaping holes where the snow had piled high upon the dirty floor. Broken beams were tossed about, some still clinging to the ice icicle encrusted rafters. Shattered glass and debris were strewn haphazardly across the vast landscape. The whole scene spoke of long past destruction and pain, a true frozen vale of sadness.

"It was hidden by a genjutsu for years to protect what was left after... well," explained Naruto solemnly. "Eventually the place just got so over grown everyone simply forgot it existed. It's so far removed from the rest of the village that it even survived Pain's attack fairly unscathed. I... found a couple of notes left by Old Man Third about it."

As Hinata moved in to get a closer look, her foot brushed up against something hard. She turned and glanced down at the object. The dark-haired woman bent over and brushed the snow from the surface. The object, Hinata concluded, had once been a mask; but the piece now appeared to be split in two.

Hinata reached out and gently picked up the halves. Her fingers caressed the rough fragments as she studied them. Cracked, spiderweb like patterns marred the white surface. The artwork on the plaster had long since faded, but the dark-haired woman could still make out enough of the design to tell that the painting used to be a fox.

Hinata let out a small gasp of surprise as her gentle eyes began to fill with tears. She turned back toward the unnervingly still form of Naruto, standing next to the vandalized remains of an Uzumaki spiral.

The blond had both his hands stuffed in his pockets, his shadowed face hung dejectedly toward the ground.

Hinata looked at the broken halves of the mask resting in her hands. Her hold on them tightened for a moment, before she rose and started to cautiously approach Naruto.

"Naruto... before when I asked what this place was, I meant, what was it to _you,_" Hinata stressed in a mournful voice. She then walked in front of Naruto and held out the pieces of the mask.

Slowly, Naruto removed his hands from his pockets and shakily brought them up to cover Hinata's own. As he thumbed the side of the mask, chips of the brittle plaster fell away and gently drifted down onto the pure white snow. The blond man then raised his head and looked at Hinata with such sorrowful blue eyes that it broke her heart.

"I tried," said Naruto hoarsely, "so many, many times to start cleaning this place up." He took a deep, shuddering breath and glanced back down at the cracked mask in his hands.

"But it's _so _broken, Hinata, that I don't even know where to start," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion.

Naruto then looked back up at Hinata with devastated eyes and explained, "This is a place of shattered dreams... and unfulfilled wishes of a happy life."

A single tear streaked down Naruto's face. Hinata brought up her hand and gently caressed his spiky blond locks.

"My poor Naruto," said Hinata in hushed tones, "this was your mother's home, wasn't it?"

"Hai," answered the blond as he fell to his knees and began to cry, "She was going to be happy here; we all were. _I_was meant to grow-up here, with a loving family. But it all..."

Naruto then drifted off unable to finish. Hinata knelt down and wrapped him in her loving embrace.

The blond simply turned his head and started to cry into Hinata's shoulder. The dark-haired woman held him tenderly as the boy she loved finally released years of pent-up pain and loneliness.

"I know, Naruto. I know," Hinata comforted and stayed right by his side.

A few minutes later, Naruto's tears finally began to dry. He eventually pulled back from Hinata's grasp and roughly wiped his eyes.

"Sorry about that," he hoarsely apologized, an embarrassed blush stretching across his face. "Not my greatest display of manliness, huh?"

Hinata gave him a warm smile and replied, "You have nothing to apologize for, everyone needs to cry sometimes. It's a healthy release of emotions. And as with all things, there's a time and a place for it. I feel very honored that you trusted me enough to see this side of you."

"Hinata..." Naruto sighed with all the love in his heart, "You really are the most amazing person I've ever known."

The blond then glanced away from her eyes and looked sadly back at the pieces of the broken mask still tightly grasped in his hands.

This statement caused Hinata's shy blush to return, but she quickly shook it off because there was something else she needed to say.

"Naruto...," she said hesitantly, unsure of how he would take this.

The blond took another deep breath and turned back to face Hinata. The dark-haired woman reached out and gently placed her hands alongside Naruto's on the halves of the mask.

"This place... it doesn't have to _stay_ this way, you know," stated Hinata as Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Right now it's broken," continued Hinata, "and it will remain that way, if you do nothing to change it."

Naruto's eyes went wide as he stared at her stunned. Hinata then guided Naruto's hands to place the halves of the mask back together as she added, "But this can still be the place your mother dreamed of and so much more. All you have to do is make it one."

"I-" whispered the blond with the weight of such a task. Could he really do it? Was he emotionally strong enough now to try?

"I c-could help," generously offered Hinata with a bit of her old stutter, "i-if you'd like me to that is..."

"Oh, Hinata," sighed Naruto, "I could never ask something like that of you."

"You don't have to ask," she assured him. "I want to help you through this, Naruto."

"Hinata..."

"Besides I told you before, I love doing things with my hands," she encouraged with a smile. "It'll be a lot of work. But in the end, I think it will be worth it. I would love to see your mother's dream become reality."

Naruto looked at her with eyes filled with love. He gently let go of the mask, brought his left hand up to Hinata's face, and brushed away a stray lock of hair. Then they both leaned in and enthusiastic kissed. It was everything their first kiss had been and so much more.

After a few exhilarating moments, the couple broke apart as they both desperately gasped for air. Once they regained their composure, Naruto said, "You always seem to know exactly what I need and when. How on earth do you it, Hinata?"

This made the dark-haired woman giggle a little, "I don't know, I just do I guess."

"I'm really lucky to have a person as strong and kind as you are," declared Naruto as he snuggled up close to her like a playful fox.

"I-" Hinata whispered in shock, "Naruto- Do... you really mean that?"

"W-What?" he asked with an embarrassed blush. "Of course I do! I always say what I mean, Dattebayo! You know that."

"Hai, but..." replied Hinata hesitantly as she worriedly bit her lip. "I've always been weak. And when it's mattered most, I've never been strong enough to protect you."

Naruto stared at her, his face becoming completely serious.

"Hinata," he declared with all the love in his heart, "I know in the past, you've said that _**I**_ was the one who saved you..."

Hinata nodded her head with a concerned frown.

"But I believe the _**opposite**_ is true," concluded Naruto with a satisfied smile.

"What do you mean?" asked Hinata as she blinked in surprise.

"_**You **_are the one," emphasized Naruto as he pointed to Hinata and then to himself, "who saved _**me.**_"

Hinata's eyes went wide but she remained silent as Naruto continued, "Over and over, time and time again, every time I slipped you caught me."

_*Flash* Hinata slapping him when he almost gave in to Obito. _

"Every time I failed, you immediately jumped in to protect me..."

_*Flash* Hinata jumping in to face Pain when he was pinned to the ground. _

"Whenever I was down, you picked me back up again..."

_*Flash* Hinata encouraging him before his battle with Neji._

"Honestly, part of me feels I don't deserve your love," admitted Naruto. "Maybe that's why it took so long for me to realize what this feeling between the two of us was... "

"Naruto-kun..." whispered Hinata sadly.

"There's a space in my heart," professed Naruto as he place a hand to his chest, "that is still very much like this place. It's where that lost and lonely boy still lives."

Naruto shook his head in wonder as he continued, "Even when I was still that broken child, you saw something of worth in me. Something that I couldn't see for myself. That winter day? The one where those kids destroyed my scarf?"

Hinata nodded in remembrance.

"I heard the names they called you," explained the blond. "And for the first time, I realized that it wasn't just me. I wasn't the only one people hurt. I protected you because... I thought that even though I couldn't stop them from hurting _me_, maybe I could get them to stop hurting _**you.**_That was the first time I ever fought back, Hinata, and it was all because of you."

"Oh Naruto-kun, you've got it all wrong," she protested. "_**You **_were the one who inspired _me_."

"What?" asked Naruto confused.

"I always looked to you as my source of light in those dark times..." Hinata confessed earnestly. "If I felt bad that someone bullied me, I'd think 'Naruto can take it, and so can I.' Every time I fell, I'd think 'Naruto would get back up, and so can I.' I'm the person I am today because you set the example, Naruto-kun."

"Hinata-chan..." replied Naruto hoarsely, his eyes once again filling with tears.

"And now, here we both are _**together**_," proclaimed the dark-haired woman. "This is it Naruto, the final piece."

"The final piece?" whispered Naruto confused.

"The one that will make both of us _whole_," Hinata stressed as she placed a hand over the one Naruto still held protectively against his heart.

She then raised her lavender eyes, staring deep into his sparkling blue and said, "Don't you see it's ..."

Her words lingered in the air between them in anticipation.

Naruto reached up his other shaking hand and reverently placed it over Hinata's heart. He felt her rapid heartbeat pulse beneath his skin.

"-it's each other," finished Naruto as they both leaned in and passionately began to kiss beneath the winter sky. Their chakra flared around them and became entwined. The flakes of newly fallen snow swirled with their power like in a magical snow globe. The thaw had finally come to their solitary lives.

The only thing the pair could feel now, was the everlasting warmth of their eternal love.

* * *

~Epilogue~

* * *

The next morning, Konohamaru whistled merrily to himself as he walked down the street. The sun was shining and the snow fall from the previous night had already begun to melt. It was a good day to be alive.

Yup! Just a normal, peaceful day in-

"PAKKUN! What kind of seduction scene was that?!" yelled the Hokage as he chased after the small dog. "That was not what we had discussed! Get your furry ass back here!"

"Huh..." commented Konohamaru_, _"Odd. I wonder what that was all about." But the teen quickly dismissed it with a shrug and continued on his merry way.

_T_hat is until the sweet sound of "Maru-kun!" caught his undivided attention.

"W-What? H-Hanabi!" exclaimed the teen in surprise. It was the first time the cute girl had called him anything other than "Hey, you."

Not many people knew, but Konohamaru had a huge crush on her for almost as long as he could remember.

"There you are!" Hanabi exclaimed as she rushed up and started tugging on his arm. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Come on, let's go get some dango!"

The young girl started dragging him off as Konohamaru said, "Hey! Hanabi! Hold up, what are you-"

Hanabi whirled back around and answered in an authoritative tone. "Last week, you invited me out for dango. So I'm now here to collect."

_"___Yeah, but I didn't think you'd ____**actually**____ come," __thought Konohamaru wryly. __"You never wanted to before."__

Just then the teen had an epiphany,__ "Wait a second, the only other person I told about that was... ____**Naruto.**____"__

An evil smile graced Konohamaru's lips as he realized, "That's what's going on. Naruto's pretending to be Hanabi to get back at me. Well two can play at this game!"

"Sure thing! Sweet cheeks," said the teen as he slimy wrapped an arm around her waist. "For you, _anything._"

"Okay..." replied Hanabi uncertainly as Konohamaru led her away. The teen ninja then quickly made his move by reaching up, and squeezing her tit.

Hanabi shrieked in horror as she pulled away from Konohamaru with wide violated eyes.

"Konohamaru!" she exclaimed, placing her hands protectively over her chest, "What is _**wrong** _with you!"

"HA! Cut the crap, Naruto!" he accused, pointing at the teen girl. "I know it's you! I can tell the feel of a henged breast... from... a..."

Konohamaru trailed off as he saw none other than Naruto himself approach the pair with a bag of groceries.

"Konohamaru! What are you doing to Hinata's little sister you perv!" the blond threatened with an angry glare.

"I- but you-!" stuttered the teen in shock. Konohamaru immediately fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness, "Hanabi! Please forgive me! I really thought you were Naruto! I would have never done it otherwise! Please don't hate me!"

"Oh, you have much **bigger** things to worry about," answered the voice above him coldly.

Konohamaru glanced back up just in time to see Hanabi _POOF!_ Back into... _**Hinata. **_

"Honestly, I'm not sure what disturbs me more. The fact that honking my sister's tit was your _first_ choice in determining whether or not she was **real,**" she said glaring down at the boy. "Or the fact that you know the difference between a real or henged breast by **feel.**"

"**HINATA!" **screamed Konohamaru in abject horror as he quickly crawled away from her while attempting to shield himself from whatever was coming.

"Now," said Hinata with an eerie calm, "I'm not normally a violent person."

The dark-haired woman's Twin-Lion-Fists sprung to life over her hands.

"But when my sister is involved," she stressed as her Byakugan activated, "I don't tend to hold back. So I suggest you _**run**_. _Now!_"

Konohamaru did not have to be told twice.

"AHHHHH!" he yelled as the teen ran away as fast as his legs would carry him.

Off to the side, Naruto had dropped his bag of groceries and was staring at Hinata with giant stars in his eyes. His hands were violently shaking with the effort he was putting into trying to restrain his utter and complete joy. Finally the blond could hold back no longer and burst out, **"HINATA-CHAN!"**

Hinata's eyes returned to normal as she released her jutsu, and gave Naruto a quick bow.

"So you enjoyed the show, I take it?" she asked with a laugh.

Naruto ran up and hugged his girlfriend around the waist. He then lifted her up and started jumping up and down.

"That was _the_ single greatest prank in the **_history_ **of pranks! It was brilliant, Hinata-chan!" gushed Naruto as he enthusiastic hugged her.

"Hehehe!" she laughed breathlessly. "I must admit that was rather fun. Will Konohamaru be okay? I hope I didn't scare him too badly."

"Oh yeah, he'll be fine," dismissed Naruto with a wave. "Besides the brat had it coming. He did henge into a naked version of you first, remember?"

"Well I suppose..." finally relented Hinata. "It really was quite invigorating."

"I know! Right?" exclaimed Naruto excitedly. "And this is just the beginning! With your intelligence and my bullheadedness-"

"I believe the word you're searching for is 'tenacity,' Naruto," politely pointed out Hinata.

"Yeah, that too!" agreed Naruto with a wild grin. "We can take the village by storm!"

Naruto then placed Hinata back down and declared to everyone around, "Look out people! Konoha's new power couple is here to stay!"

"Whatever you say, Naruto," replied Hinata supportively with a shake of her head and a laugh. The pair then leaned in and sealed the promise with a kiss.

* * *

**~The End~**

* * *

**UPDATE!: **The one-shot friendship sequel **"Little Things,"** and the new full sequel **"Yes, Naruto, Propose!"** are now up on FFN! So if you liked this story, please check out my author's page for those as well! Thanks again!

~MISTS~

**Author's Notes: **Well there you have it people! The story is finally complete! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! I'm so glad I was able to get to ten pages with this last part. I think splitting it up really worked out well. It seems pretty balanced to me. I'd like to thank all my reviewers, signed and not for all their support. Your reviews really helped stir the creative juices and inspired me to write a lot of great stuff.

Before I end though, I wanted to address a few things. Several people have said they wanted a part where Sasuke and Hinata start up their friendship again, while others are adamantly against the idea. So here is what I propose, I write a separate one-shot at some point that can be seen as connected to this story. So that way everyone wins. You get your story, and everyone who doesn't like the idea can ignore it's existence. But you guys have to review and tell me you want to see it, okay?

And then there have been, a few people who I feel have been rather_ **unfair **_in their opinions about my thumbnail for the story.

Let me **_explain_ **something to all of you. I am an artist, as well as a writer. I draw all of my own covers/avatars. I always have, and I always will. Because I like that the entire work was crafted by me.

I will not simply 'take' a picture off the internet from another artist because it is in your opinion, better.

As I've said I'm an artist, I've posted works that people have used before without asking. I don't like it, but I tolerate it. But that does not make it right. Am I be best artist in the universe? Hell's no! There are tons of people out there who are better than me. But I do know I am _**good. **_Now I know some people can't draw, and they still want to post a picture. That's fine. I still think you should ask the artist** if you can** before you post it though. But since I can draw, I will post my own. I don't expect anyone else to follow my code. But it is mine, and I feel you should at least respect that.

Anyway, I was trying to replicate the style of the anime when I drew it for "Vessel of Love." And since they are simply talking for most of the story, I drew them_ talking_. I fully intend to keep that as the cover for that piece. So I can understand that argument for changing it, because it doesn't fully fit with the tone of **this** piece.

But just calling it 'ugly' and some of the other words people have used is considered_ **rude**._

And as I said before, I was MOVING. My computer and scanner were packed for almost a **month.** And all the while, I've spent all my free time trying to finish this story in a timely manner on my laptop. So I used the same picture because Hinata and Naruto were in it. I plan on designing, sketching, drawing, inking, scanning, and painting a new cover when I have _time_.

You are fully entitled to your opinion, but let me make it clear that so am I to _mine_.

Sorry to end on that note, the majority of my readers, but I've had enough of it from one or two people.

Anyway once again, hope you all have enjoyed the story. And truly, I am so thankful for all your input and ideas, guys and girls. You all really helped me make this fic the best it could be.

And please, when you review, I would like to first hear about how you liked the last chapter and the story as a whole before you add in anything about the picture or comment on what I just wrote about. I don't want this to overshadow everything else I did. But I felt it need to be said.

And lastly as always,

__**PLEASE**___** remember to read and review!**_


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